Comics: Buhay Habangbuhay ~ Chapter 1: Buhay Buwis Buhay

Story by: Paolo Herras

Illustrated by: Tepai Pascual

Rated: Parental Advisory Mature Content

Meganon Comics

(3/5 ★★★☆☆)

"Everybody has a

dark and light side."

The Plot:

The married lives of Joel and Sandy changed forever due to the abrupt death of Sandy. It sure is difficult to see how your loved one would continue his life without you.

The Good:

The story was nicely told with minimal words used in the illustrations. The life of Sandy was a bit easy to follow and understand as she discovers life after death.

The cover was the best part of this comic. The artist gave us two images on its front cover.

The Bad:

The illustrations were great but I'd still recommend further improvements to it. Some details could have used more inking (graying/shading? I'm not sure with the term) rather than leaving those images to appear as mere outlines, of course I'm not referring to the ghostly images of Sandy.

Then, there's this confusing character/s that was placed in this story. Another woman alive/ghost appears on the comics as she says that she enjoyed sleeping beside Sandy's husband, Joel. A few pages after this confrontation and the death of Sandy, Joel is seen to come home with a woman who shares similar features to the first one that Sandy had encountered. I'm not quite sure if these are two different individuals or they are just the same one. In case that they are just the same, a big question lies on how could that woman suddenly vanish into thin air after her confrontation with Sandy. How on earth did this scenario really happen?

The Verdict:

My greatest concern would be for the creators to devise a way to distinguish the characters, such as those that I had mentioned earlier, including the other illustrations in the environment. They were good, but, I must say, I prefer some objects be added with more shades and details, especially the ones closer to the point of view of the reader rather than leaving their outline as the final image.

This is an interesting series from Meganon Comics. A story about life after death here on earth is a fresh story in the komiks medium.

More of Buhay Habangbuhay can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Buhay Habangbuhay"

Comics: Nailbiter ~ Issue 1: Chapter 1: There Will Be Blood

Story by: Joshua Williamson

Illustrated by: Mike Henderson

Colors by: Adam Guzowski

Rated: M / Mature

Image Comics
(5/5 ★★★★★)

"Buckaroo, Oregon has given birth to sixteen of the vilest

serial killers in the world. An obsessed FBI profiler

investigating the town has suddenly gone missing, and

now an NSA Agent must work with the notorious serial

killer Edward "Nailbiter" Warren to find his friend and

solve the mystery of "Where do serial killers come from?""

The Good:

A town that breeds serial killers is an interesting concept that indeed will capture anyone's attention. Add in that catchy name "Buckaroo Butchers" that the media has called these serial killers. The first issue proudly introduces us to the first and the latest serial killer produced by Buckaroo. They are called as the Book Burner and Nailbiter respectively.

The Bad:

The first issue promises us a lot due to its fascinating plot. The worrisome part here is if this comic can continue in keeping its readers from following this series of serial killers.

The Verdict:

This is worthy to be placed in your monthly pull list. A series that does not only involve a serial killer, but it talks more of the town that gave rise to 16 notorious serial killers. That alone would have sent our thrill seeking instinct up and our bets that this is going to be an awesome series.

Just remember not to bite your or someone else's fingernails.

More of Nailbiter can be seen at:

Image Comics, Inc.: http://www.imagecomics.com

Comics: Sixty Six ~ Chapter 1

Story by: Russel Molina

Illustrated by: Ian Sta. Maria
(5/5 ★★★★★)

The story revolves around Celestino "Tino" A. Cabal who lives with his wife Aura, whose memory seems to fade away as years pass by. The scene begins with Tino going home with flashbacks of him talking to Ella, his daughter who's working abroad. The first chapter ends with him saving his wife from being run over by an incoming truck. The scene then finishes off with him lifting the truck and tossing it away easily just like it was a piece of paper to be shoot off into a trash bin.

The story presents a different superhero that I presumed gained superhero powers as he turned 66, since in the story he also celebrated his 66th birthday. This is an interesting story to follow which presents to us a different kind of superhero. A superhero who's a senior citizen that just turned 66 years old. Another view of the Filipino life is also illustrated in this story. The setup wherein a child works abroad in order to support her parents that raised her up, so in order to repay that, she works abroad due to the hard time that one could get in seeking for a good paying job here in our country. This is just one of the many different scenes one could get among families that have a member of  a family who is an O.F.W. (Overseas Filipino Worker), our so called "bagong bayani" of our country. Indeed, from the hardships that they have to endure they are really the new hereos of our country.

This is another work that certainly is good to follow. Hope that the next chapter will be released next Komikon. hehe. Well we'll just have to wait for it to see what happens to Tino after that incident.

Note: Images were taken from the artist's webpages.

They can be contacted at / seen on:

Russel Molina

rusmolina@yahoo.com

Ian Sta. Maria

iamiansm@yahoo.com

iantoy.deviantart.com