Comics: School Run ~ Issue 1

Macoy x Ardie Aquino Edition

Illustration and Story by: Macoy and Ardie Aquino

(4/5 ★★★★☆)

"In post-zombie apocalypse Philippines, life is good! Or at least as good as you can expect in a third-world country with 80's technology and an everpresent zombie plague. But as Maki and her friends will soon discover, just getting to school in the morning can be a real killer.

SCHOOL RUN is a tongue-in-cheek zombie story with everything you look for in the genre: humor, action, social commentary, and the undead munching on kids."

The Good:

After almost a decade, School Run is back as Macoy made a collaboration with Ardie Aquino.

This update is thrilling to see in so many ways. It now comes in color with the dialogues updated from Filipino to English.

The cover has been changed to show a crowd full of zombies with some of the main casts in it. Also within the hoard are the creators so one would find it amusing to try and guess which one are they among the zombies.

The previous panels and script originally drawn by Macoy has been given a new look by Ardie. The details that can be seen at the background of the characters are worth to look at. Knockoff logos of familiar companies and brands can be seen like Food Panda, Angkas, Skull Head, and Meralco. An added bonus was the additional signage stuck on a post promoting Ardie's Home Massage Service beside a Mackoy Plumber post.

The story describes of a post-zombie apocalypse world that occurs in the year 2035. It still gives a fun and fresh look of the Philippines with young children as the main characters.

The Bad:

One of the biggest concern with this post-zombie apocalypse version is the NZP or the anti plague medicine that everyone appears to be taking. The presence of this item, which was also present in the original version, leaves a lot of questions. It insinuates that by forgetting to take this pill will turn you into a zombie aside from the primary means of exposure to a contaminated blood or body fluids. It begs to question if the zombie virus was also airborne. It is also appalling that no new drug has been invented yet in order to increase the interval time for this medication be taken by the general population. The need to take a pill every 4 hours is going to be a tiresome chore because it means setting an alarm so you could wake up from your 6 to 8 hours of sleep just to take this anti plague pill.

The Verdict:

Zombie apocalypse themed stories is still a nice story to dwell on. This updated version is more child friendly in comparison to the original one. This can be seen as the head of one of the characters pop up at the back of the school bus. Looking at it in black and white back then gives a more chilling scenario in comparison to the current multicolored zombies in the series.

Most of the original fans would be pulled back to rediscover the story of Maki. I just hope we can finally see the ending of this series.

More of the creators' works can be seen at:

Ardie Aquino:

Instagram: @chikidoodledoo

Macoy:

Twitter: @komiksnimacoy

Events: Komiket Schedule 2023

Komiket is ready for 2023 as it already gives us a list of the events that will be held this year.

New to the schedule is the first physical event of Philippine International Comics Fair (PICOF) and new venues for Komiket to be seen.

Here are Komiket's schedule for 2023:

• Komiket BGC
• January 28 - 29, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
• Market Market Activity Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

• Komiket
• March 4 - 5, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
• SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2

• Art in the Park x Komiket
• March 19, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. 
• Jaime Velasquez Park, Salcedo Village, Makati City

 

• Komiket Katipunan
• March 31, 2023 - April 2, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
• UP Town Center, Quezon City

• Philippine Book Festival x Komiket
• June 2 - 4, 2023
• World Trade Center Manila

• Komiket Pride
• June 16 - 18, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
•  Ayala Malls The 30th

• Toycon 2023 x Komiket
• July 7 - 9, 2023
• SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Manila

• Komiket Iloilo
• July 21 - 23, 2023
• SM City Iloilo

• Komiket Bacolod
• July 28 - 30, 2023
• SM City Bacolod

• #KomiketU
• 9th Comic Book Creator's Workshop
• August 5, 6, 12, and 13, 2023
• 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• via Google Meet

• Philippine Book Festival 
• August 18 - 20, 2023
• SMX Davao

• Manila International Book Fair (MIBF)
• September 14 - 17, 2023
• SMX MOA

• Komiket
• October 21 - 22, 2023
• 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
• SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 1

• Paskomiket
• November 25 - 26, 2023
• SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 2

• Komiketmas
• December 2 - 3, 2023
• 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
• Ayala Malls the 30th

• Singapore Comic Con - SGCC2023 x Komiket
• December 9 - 10, 2023
• Sands & Expo Convention Centre

More information about Komiket 2023 can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Komiket"

* Note this list will be updated regularly

Anthology: Kommunity 2017

Created by: Budjette Tan, Ian Sta. Maria, Carlorozy, D. Borja, Hulyen, Manix Abrera, Toto Madayag, Ardie Aquino, Asshulz (Mae Andre Arboleda), Richard Mercado, Gaby Taylo, Buhay Kolehiyo (Mod Ryan, Mod Ton, Mod Lirip, and Mod Japh), Lyndon Gregorio, Josel [Nicolas], Cy Vendivil, Reginald Abisado, Ivyree Rosario, Elbert Or, Juris Go, Mich Cervantes, Jess Guanco, and Arnold Arre

Edited by: Paolo Herras and Richard Mercado

Komiket Inc.

(4.05/5 ★★★★☆)

"From award-winning

comic book authors

and prolific art market

and convention regulars

to the names behind the

most shared comic pages

in social media.

Meet the creators in your

neighborhood."

The Good:

The anthology features insights on how Komiket feels in the eyes of a comic creator, an artist or even as a regular comic con goer. 4 out of the 19 stories tells about this Komiket experience.

However, the best story in this anthology did not tackle the comic con experience but rather brought us a slice of life story. Little Things PH by Reginald Abisado and Ivyree Rosario. A story about life, love and death. This short silent comic would give chills as it shows off the same first 10 minutes that the audience felt to Pixar's Up.

The Bad:

One would agree that this anthology does not have a single story subject or art form. However, it does not look good if within an anthology there exists a set of comic strips that has one story line who unfortunately uses different art styles. It is difficult to love the comic Buhay Kolehiyo since the art deviates from one artist to another. It is confusing to know if the characters that exists in the other panels are the same or not.

The Verdict:

This compilation houses some of the best spin off stories from their main character arcs like Kambal: La Calauera Catrina (The Elegant Skull). Anthologies really gives a surprise story which could be an explored material in the future such as the mention of "Luha ni Lucifer" in the Kikomachine Komix. But in the end, sometimes the best gags can be seen in the sketchy illustrations of a sketchy guard in the story Security.

"People are doors. Lives are rooms. And sometimes doors leave." - Josel

* Breakdown of Rating:

★☆☆☆☆ -

★★☆☆☆ -

★★★☆☆ - First Komiket Experience; The Other Gonzaga; Uy Si Crush; Buhay Kolehiyo; Beerkada; Jan Jan Comics; Your Secrets Aren't Safe Here

★★★★☆ - Comics Convention; Security; Josel; The Wave Queller

★★★★★ - Kambal: La Calauera Catrina (The Elegant Skull); Hunghang Flashbacks Goes to Komiket!; Kikomachine Komix; Libreng Komiks; Little Things PH; Little Questions; Other People; Salamin

Events: Extended Voting Period for the FRCA2022

We got an extension! Voting for the best books for the Filipino Readers' Choice Awards (FRCA) 2022 has been extended until October 2, 2022.

It was said to have been extended due to changes in the schedule of the next Philippine Book Fair of the Book Development Association of the Philippines.

The FRCA Awards Ceremony is said to be held between mid November to early December.

For those who haven't voted yet, the online ballot can be seen by clicking the link below:

http://bit.ly/frca2022voting

Events: Votation for the 2022 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards

The second phase has already commenced. The voting phase for Filipino Readers' Choice Awards 2022 will run from September 2 - 23, 2022. Keep in mind that 1 vote per category per batch only. One could also opt to skip to vote per category per batch. But do remember that it's only 1 ballot per e-mail address. Multiple ballots using 1 e-mail address will not be counted. The top three books per category per batch will become the finalists and will enter the judging phase.

The online ballot can be seen by clicking the link below:

http://bit.ly/frca2022voting

Events: Nomination for the 2022 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards

Filipino Readers' Choice Awards (FRCA) is back after a long hiatus. The last FRCA was set last 2014. The FRCA will now be handled by the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP). Thus, FRCA will be conducted every other year alternately with BDAP's Gintong Aklat Awards.

Only books written by Filipino authors and artists published or self-published in the Philippines, either print or ebook, are eligible. Reprints or later editions of books previously nominated to the FRCA will not be considered. To make up for the lost years, two batches will be awarded this year for 15 categories. The first batch are books published from 2015 - 2018 while the second batch are books published from 2019 - 2021.

The 15 categories for both batches this year are:

• Fiction in English
• Fiction in Filipino or Taglish
• Romance in English
• Romance in Filipino or Taglish
• Fiction Anthology
• Young Adult Fiction
• Children's Picture Book
• Comics & Graphic Novels
• Poetry
• Inspirational / Religious
• Humor
• Food & Cookbook
• Nonfiction
• History
• Translated Work

FRCA 2022 will undergo 3 phases which are Nominations, Public Voting and Panel Judging.

The first phase will be the nomination phase that be held until August 24, 2022. This started with the publishers nominating any qualifying books in any categories for the appropriate batch.

The list of 1,300 + publishers' nominations can be seen below.

Publishers' Nominations List

If you don't see a book that should be nominated, you can cast your nominations on the google form link below. Public nominations will be held until August 24, 2022.

Public Nomination Google Form Link

Voice out your support for the best books you've read.

For 2013 FRCA winners you can see them in the link below:

http://onemantra.blogspot.com/2013/12/events-winners-of-2013-filipino-readers.html

Just click on the link below for more details on how to nominate for the 2022 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards at:

http://www.bdap.ph/frcanominations

Comics: Man vs Ipis! ~ Volume 1

Illustration and Story by: AJ Bacar

Sskait Comics

(4/5 ★★★★★)

"The ipis your mom warned you about-

An ipis suddenly appeared

out of nowhere and

attacked the man...

Emotionally

Papatalo ba?? Of couse not."

The Good:

This short comic book neatly tells a comedic story of man against a cockroach (ipis) that lasted for 9 rounds. The art and story are superb.

The best panel would be the scene of the baby cockroach being calmed down by its mother to sleep as they face an inevitable death.

"K lang. Mas cute naman ang bunso." - Bunso Ipis

The Bad:

The first few panels were seen drawn using a thick brush. However, it eventually improved wherein most brush strokes do not use a thicker stroke compared to the earlier one.

The Verdict:

It is a short comic book that is highly entertaining that does well in both its art and storytelling.

Who knew that a dying scene of cockroaches can be an emotional moment.

"Kaka-kompyuter mo yan." - Mommy Ipis

More of Man vs Ipis can be seen at:

Facebook Page: Man vs Ipis

Twitter: @sskaitcomics

Instagram: @sskaitcomics