Events: Indieket 2013

This is one komikon that I actually was not supposed to be attending. I had set my mind, after I discovered the schedule of this event, that I could only go to the Winter Komikon 2013. This is due to my busy and conflicting schedules at school. Well, I guess I had luck on my side yesterday (August 10, 2013), that's when my class got cancelled, I suddenly got the chance to experience this type of Komikon which is now on its 2nd year.

 

Indieket 2013, is a Komikon dedicated to the independent comic creators. It showcases the talents of artists and writers that keeps afloat and contributes to the rich stories and art that our comics have. It is a chance to reach out to the people even thru small populations. For they are promising to give us stories that are worth to be read. This is my first time to attend an indieket that was held at the Bayanihan Center, which is the same venue for the yearly Summer and Winter Komikons. This year's indieket is on its second year and it promises to grow in the succeeding years. I have not attended the first one so I cannot compare exactly the changes and growth that Indieket 2013 has from Indieket 2012. However, compared to the usual Komikon, the Indieket only took up half of the big conference room. The crowd was, as far as I was there from 1:30 p.m. up to 3:00 p.m. were fewer compared to the usual Komikon. But this I could say be expected since this event is still starting out and is still on its way on gathering crowds to take a look on the works that are independently published by writers who are still on the start point of trying to attract more people. Well, given those things, there is this cool thing that I got to do due to the event catalog that was given away. It is arranged like a mini book, let say like a comic book format, since before I had attended a Komikon before wherein the event catalog was still made like a newspaper. Now it was arranged like a comic book, however it had a sort of blank cover, so I had thought of an interesting way for me to really remember that event. I used that blank cover and asked some artists that were present, whose works I love, to sketch something on it. It is one cool thing that I brought home with me, along with the comics that I had gotten from that day.

Sketches are done by Carlo Jose San Juan, MD (Callous Comics), KaJo Baldisimo (Trese), Pol Medina (Pugad Baboy), Andoyman (Palimos ng Kulangot), and Ian Sta. Maria (Skyworld)

Well that's mostly it. I'm just going to invite you to attend the next Komikons including the Winter Komikon 2013 that is set on November 16, 2013 at Bayanihan Center, Pasig City.

Here are the things that I got from Indieket 2013:

• Lagro: Ang Kalapating Mukhang Manok
• Drama
• Jez and Richard Arguilla
• Kama Komiks

• Chained Story
• Horror
• Reylee & Zovaschi
• Pirte Bal Media

• Palimos ng Kulangot
• Slice of Life
• Ronibats / Andoyman
• Ronibats

• Food Court
• Love Story
• Andoyman
• Andoyman Komiks

• Ang Sumpa (Chapter 1 Parts 1 &2)
• Detective
• Andoyman
• Andoyman Komiks

• A Historical Comic: Komikwento
• Miko Migriño

• The Hunting (Chapter 1)
• Daniel Collado, Miko Migriño, and Laraine Gazmen

• Callous Comics: Chocolate Chip Wishes and Caffeine Dreams
• Callous Comics: Take Two Spoonfuls of the Sunny Side!
• Callous Comics: The Land of the Guardians
• Callous Comics: On Lighter Dreams
• Fantasy / Adventure
• Carlo Jose San Juan, MD
• Feathers and Tar Production

• Trese 6 Preview & Stories From The Diabolical
• Budjette Tan and KaJo Baldisimo

• Sixty Six (Chapter 2)
• Russel Molina and Ian Sta. Maria

• Pugad Baboy 25
• Pol Medina Jr.

• Sulyap
• Gio Paredes, RH Quilantang, Mel Casipit, Ian Olympia, Rommel J. Estanislao, Tepai Pascual, Josel Nicolas, and Macoy

Movies: The Purge (2013)

Director: James DeMonaco

Script Writer: James DeMonaco

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder

Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rate: 6 / 10

"A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized."

A movie that was created by the producer of Paranormal Activity and Sinister. It promises to us viewers thru the success of those two movies and the fright that it gave to us, that we will also have a good time watching this movie, or in this case for us to be always holding unto our breaths and seats. The story introduces us to a new United States of America. It shows us the new and more improved country due to its low incidence of unemployment and crimes. All of this is due to one law that gives rise to the Purge. On this 12-hour period that is held once a year, it allows the citizens to vent out their stored emotions, such as anger and mania. The freedom to commit crimes, such as mugging, rape, and even murder. All of this can be done without any fear of being sanctioned afterwards. This concept is what makes this movie interesting. It shares the same vibe with the movies like Hunger Games and Battle Royal wherein violence is allowed due to a law. The difference among those movies and the Purge lies with the individual having the free will to commit murder without being told by the government to do so. This concept would instantly get the attention of viewers who liked the ideas brought upon by the Hunger Games and Battle Royal. This gives an even more frightening thought. Since, everyone is entitled to participate and not just a couple of individuals who are forced to do so in fear of their lives.

James DeMonaco (both the director and script writer of this movie) had pushed the concept that Battle Royal had. However, given this concept I find the movie disappointing on how the story went. The story in the movie revolved around a family who tries to live out the night of being purged despite of the defenses that they had in their home. I think it failed to give the psychological horror to its viewers, especially those who had watched too many horror and thriller movies. The psychological element could have even been pushed further. It might have given it to the film, if let's say the character centered on an individual rather than a family. Then, that individual could have been trapped somewhere outside his or her home which is fully secured. The story could be of that person's view and on what he or she does in order to survive the night while the streets are scattered with people who are either eager to join the purge or on being acted upon it. It could be a story of the extent that one would do in order to keep safe and still hold his or her principles in not turning into a participant of that yearly event.

In the case of the movie's cinematography, I would say it was nice. It had compensated for the story that I was expecting from this movie. The camera shots, angles and lightning, had proved to be successful in presenting to us the story which had also managed to give some surprising moments.

Overall, the movie was nice. However, I'd say this movie is one that you could simply just watch at home for free on your cable television networks. The cinematography was nice enough to compensate for the light story it had. A heavier story could have been much more successful if the director would continue to develop this movie into a psychological horror movie. Despite this, I think the unexpected twist that happens to one of the major characters which occurs near the end of the movie was a nice one. It's a deviant from the usual ending one would expect if the story revolved around a family. If you're looking for a simple scary story, this movie would be interesting for you, but if you're looking for some new stuffs with a great story, I would say this movie will just be one of those movies to watch if there's not a lot of choices out there.

"One night a year, all crime is legal."

Comics: Pepe: The Lost Years of Rizal ~ Book 1

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Story by: Ron Mendoza

Illustrated by: Arnold Renia Cruz

Black Ink Comics
(3/5 ★★★☆☆)

"Jose Rizal - or Pepe as a young boy - while lost in a forest, meets a mysterious old hermit who gives him a pendant. The pendant turns out to be a magically powerful amulet which could grant him all his wishes and could give him anything he wants - even his country's freedom from Spain.

There is only one problem: the governor-general is also looking for the said amulet, intending to use it to shackle the Filipinos more - and make him the most powerful man on earth."

This is an interesting fictional historical book. It tells of Jose Rizal's supposedly unknown adventures when he was still a young boy. So far the first book was an interesting start. It has been a good introductory story. The thing that I noticed most with this comic was its art. In my opinion it seems some of the expressions made by different characters seemed inappropriate for each given situation. Most of them were smiling in the face of a serious situation. I know that Filipinos are known to be seen to still be smiling despite being faced with great problems, its just that when faced with a life and death situation I don't think you'll find yourself smiling that much. This is evident on the 2nd frame of page 16 wherein after being held up at gunpoint most especially by a Spaniard, in which he'd be the last person you would still be able to smile even if he has a gun pointed at your face. In the next scenario that I noticed, I could say that maybe in here one can still manage to smile despite the given situation. This scenario can be seen on the 3rd panel of page 40, regarding the character of Jose Rizal's Ate Neneng. Another descrepancy regarding emotions can be seen on the 3rd panel of page 46. It is regarding the narration which says that Pepe, the young Jose Rizal, didn't feel any tiredness. But from the looks of the art which tells otherwise. It can be seen that Pepe has that tired expression on his face. Well those are just bits of my view regarding the art.

In general, the story from the first book attracts readers due to the fictional fantasy that has happened to Pepe. I just hope that the layout artist would do a better job or at least the publisher tries to see the final layout of the book before it gets printed. It is a shame that parts of the book, both the illustration and texts, are not easily seen due to way it was laid out. Hope that these won't be encountered in the rest of the books.

Note: Images were taken from the internet.

More of Black Ink Comics can be seen at:

Twitter: @BlackInkComics

Facebook Page: "Black Ink Comics"

Comics: Ten Grand ~ Issue 1: Blood Oath

Story by: J. Michael Straczynski

Illustrated by: Ben Templesmith
Rated: M / Mature

Joe's Comics
Image Comics

(5/5 ★★★★★)

(Cover B by Bill Sienkiewicz)

"Love is the only thing worth dying for. I should know. I've done it plenty of times." - Joe Fitzgerald

This is the first time I grabbed and bought an american comic. I just discovered Ten Grand thru Budjette Tan's instagram post in which he said interesting comments about it. As I have read from the website of Joe's Comics at www.studiojms.com Ten Grand is said to be the return of Joe's Comics after a long time. So far with the first issue, I could say that this is indeed a great material for the comeback of Joe's Comics.

The story begins with Joe Fitzgerald's memory of Laura. I can say that this scene was the one that I find it really funny, since the scene mentions that he dreams of Laura being beautiful. However, in my opinion she is being portrayed to be a bit different by having a chubby face that goes with a thin arms. I could say Debbie, a character introduced on the 3rd page, looked to be more beautiful than Laura. But it could be anybody's point of view. Well at least they had drawn Laura beautifully somewhere in the middle of the comic. From the looks of the story, I find myself looking at a few comparisons with other comics thru Ten Grand. First, it reminded me of Trese, the comic book created by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, due to Lenny's that looked a bit liked the Diabolical in some way since the main character mostly stays there. Then, there's the odd jobs that both of them do, in which they usually handle paranormal cases. It is somehow the same, the only difference here is that Alexandra does it as guardian to her city, while Joe does it for him to be able to see Laura once more. The first issue already gave a great intro of how the world of Joe seems to be. It may even feel that Joe's character is the same with John from the movie Constantine. Now with the art, there are a few funny sketches like the previous one that I mentioned regarding Laura. Another one that is still about her is in the preview of a scene / cover of the 2nd issue of the comic. The art shows Joe and Laura hugging each other tightly, in which I find it funny to see Laura being drawn with a huge right hand. In addition to the story and the art, surprisingly the comic also comes with an audio version. It is an interesting and a new experience wherein one can just listen to the audio while reading the story by just looking at the illustrations of the comic.

As much as I would go on narrating different scenes from the comic. I'd rather suggest and encourage you to go on and buy a copy of this comic. With its great story combined by its dark and a bit of strange looking illustrations, I'm pretty sure you'll look forward for the rest of the issues of Ten Grand.

Note: Some of the images were taken from the net, while the others were just a photo from my copy since I couldn't find them uploaded on the internet.

More of Ten Grand can be seen at:

Joe's Comics: www.studiojms.com

Image Comics, Inc.: www.imagecomics.com

Movies: World War Z (2013)

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse

Story: based on the novel by Max Brooks

Genre: Action, Drama, Horror

Rate: 9 / 10

"United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself."

This is one great suspense movie for 2013 that will certainly give you the feeling of jumping out of surprise  because of fright from the start till the end of the movie. From the time the title and a few credits had already presented at the start of the movie, and also after a few introduction to the main characters of the story, we are right away bombarded with surprise and confusion as to what has suddenly took place. By having zombies popping out of almost anywhere and very eagerly (and also very fast in running) to catch anyone, it really changes a lot of things that we might opt to do in case a zombie apocalypse might happen.

Spoiler: There are a lot of scenes wherein you'll get frustrated for individuals who caused the death of others. Thru a simple phone call or by singing out loudly of songs of worship. I'm just guessing that's what they're singing and also I have nothing against them doing their worship. The only problem is the volume of loudness of their song that will certainly make you angry after the succeeding events. There's also the foolish death of a doctor, who was the best person who could have found a cure. But the thing that really pissed me off was the phone call that was made by the wife while her husband is in the middle of biking towards the plane, in the middle of zombies. It just makes you want to leave destroy your communication with her until you get back and finish the job. End of Spoiler.

As a viewer who watched the movie without having read the novel from where it was based on, I would say that this movie gives us a new and great insight on zombies. Aside from the mode of transmission that the "zombie" virus needs, it was really amazing and shocking to see the upgrade that the zombies have in this movie in comparison to previous zombie creations. In this movie, they have now the ability to climb tall buildings and walls by forming a somewhat zombie ladder, which was made upon by the bodies of zombies climbing on top of each other. With the loss of human instinct to stay on land, the movie gives us the impression that in order to stay alive and remain free from infection of the zombie virus, one has to be either in the middle of the sea or up in the air.

I recommend watching this movie for all the zombie story fanatics out there. Even though, I had already seen this movie two times in the cinema, it still never failed to make me jump off my seat once in a while due to the surprise and fright some scenes can give its viewers.

 

"Mother Nature is a serial killer. No one better. More creative."

Comics: Black Ink Comics' Shortcuts ~ Fairy Tails: Another Beauty And The Beast / For A Pair Of Legs / Jack And The Giant

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(4/5 ★★★★☆)

Aside from releasing comics which consists of around 10 books more or less per series, Black Ink Comics also came out with Shortcuts. It's a comic book that consists of three short stories that are created by different writers and artists. In this shortcut, it presents Fairy Tails with stories like "Another Beauty and the Beast" as the first story. The other stories included are "For A Pair of Legs" and "Jack and the Giant".

Another Beauty And The Beast

Story by: Ron Mendoza

Illustrated by: Arnel R. Coronel

Black Ink Comics

"Maniwala si Beast na hindi mahalaga ang hitsura pagdating sa pag-ibig. "Bulag ang pag-ibig," sabi niya. Pero nang mawala ang sumpa sa kanya at bumalik ang kaguwapuhan niya, bigla ay nagbago ang pananaw niya sa pag-ibig lalo na nang ma-head over heals in love sa kanya ang isang halimaw."

This short story I may say is the best among the three stories complied in this book. It uses the Filipino language and the modern way of how Filipinos communicate with each other. Words like "Nevah", meaning never, was used in the story as a way to present how our current society talks informally. The story is based from Disney's Beauty and the Beast in which the author placed a twist. It answers the question, "What if the situation was reversed with the Beast turning to be a handsome prince, while the gorgeous Belle transforming into an ugly beast?" As much as the story was written nicely, its just sad to see that some of these lines were placed incorrectly. I find that some of it were positioned at the very side where the pages of the book are bounded to its spine, meaning you need to open and expose the pages of the book wide enough in order to read the texts. Then on page 9, where Belle and the beast are having a conversation, I find the speech bubbles to be a bit confusing as to whose lines are spoken first due to their arrangement. Nonetheless, with this shortcoming I find the story and the art to be good. I'd advice though that this story not be read by children in grade school and below for a bad word that it contains, which may highly be disapproved by most parents.

For A Pair Of Legs

Story by: Nald Tabuzo

Illustrated by: Cliff Renegado

Black Ink Comics

"Love makes the little mermaid foolish. She doesn't mind where her love for the prince will take her. Love is a source of joy. But she seems unaware that it's also a source of misery."

This second story is based on another Disney movie entitled The Little Mermaid. It has a less entertaining twist in my opinion among the three stories compiled in this book. In here, the same concerns with the first story like some texts can't be easily read, since it's placed near the center where the pages of the book are kept in place, are still present. It also contain some words which may be disapproved by some parents to be read by their little kids. I might say that the thing that I liked the most with this story was the part where Belle started doing a headstand and all different sorts of dances for a dance competition.

Jack And The Giant

Story by: Jeffrey Marcelino Ong

Illustrated by: Roy Allan Martinez

Black Ink Comics

"Jack climbs the giant beanstalk in their backyard to search for his missing father and brother. He finds a nasty giant whom he kills jubilantly, unaware that what he did would probably be his life's greatest mistake."

This third story of the compilation is now based from the famous Jack and the Beanstalk. The story starts with the beanstalk already in the backyard of Jack. The plot starts with his brother and father who were never seen again after they had climbed up the giant beanstalk. This story gives a different view about the giant that lives in the castle up on the clouds. Still the same problem with the previous two stories were seen to be present in this compilation such as having some of the texts not being easily readable due to its placement.

Overall, this compilation is worth the buy due to the twist that the writers had made to the fairy tails that most of us knew. The only downside is the placing of the texts. I only hope that this difficulty in reading the text won't appear in the next comics published by Black Ink Comics.

Note: Images were taken from the internet.

More of Black Ink Comics can be seen at:

Twitter: @BlackInkComics

Facebook Page: "Black Ink Comics"

The Mechanic's True Handbook

Written by: Peter Wallace

Illustrated by: Manix Abrera
(5/5 ★★★★★)

"The joys of the workshop leap from the pages as the insights this wonderful handbook provide takes you to another plane (where the wood is truly smooth).

Join us in an exploration of the workshop and the satisfaction it can truly bring. No true engineer or mechanic can afford to be without it." - www.nationalbookstore.com.ph

Needless to say, this is the same as my review with "Why You Need 3 Hands" made by the same writer and artist. An interesting insight made by Peter Wallace can be seen on page 3 where it says "KNOW IT ALL: Mechanics don't read instructions -- they know how to do it already." A thing most of us usually do upon purchasing things, such as a gadget, wherein we neglect to read the manual which could have given us a few tips to have a more enjoyable time with the product that we had just bought.

As for the illustration, Manix Abrera made use of one of the common characters seen in the Kikomachine Komix series, which is the guy whose eyes are rarely seen due to the cap he's always wearing. Well, just as the same with the book "Why You Need 3 Hands", it is a must buy for avid collectors and fans of Manix Abrera's works.

Note: Image was just a photo from my copy since I can't find a good picture uploaded on the internet.