On The Philippine Comics Industry

I want the Philippine comics industry to succeed. Really. I dream of a time where the Philippines will rank among the United States of America and Japan as makers of top-rank, first-rate comics.

Filipinos have the talents, no one can deny that. We have certified world class artists. And the ideas in Filipino comics are good. We have good writers and artists. Sadly, success in the comic book industry is dependent to one’s economy. Look at the US and Japan, they have good economies, thus good comic book industries. In the Philippines, the talents cannot find much money in the local comics industry, so they work abroad where they can be find their talents and abilities paid handsomely (another case of “brain drain” in the Philippines).

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I read a lot of comics since I was a kid. And back then, part of my reading was of Filipino comicbooks like Bata Batuta, and Funny Comics. Sadly, most of my Bata Batuta comics are gone now. However, I still have my Funny Comics with me. They have some decent stories there, satisfactory to kids. The only problem, like other weekly comics books, is the lack of art quality – I guess it’s because of the lack of time production and budget. If only the coloring is improved. I don’t care if they raise prices or it will take a longer time to produce one. Tinay Pinay, Combatron, Tomas N’ Kules, and the other children-loved characters deserved to be appreciated by Filipino kids like they appreciate foreign characters like Archie.

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I also have Pugad Baboy compilations in my collection. Now in all the cartoon strip franchises that I know of, for me, Pol Medina Jr.’s Pugad Baboy is the best there is. Pugad Baboy has good art and has good entertaining quality. Now that’s Filipino talent!

And there’s Lyndon Gregorio’s Beerkada, another great Filipino comic strip. Only second best next to Medina, but Beerkada also has its own appeal.

With guys like Medina and Gregorio, Filipino comic strips stood up with the foreign comic strips in the newspaper comics page.

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I was sad when Culture Crash stopped publishing because of – probably – financial problems. It was a very promising Filipino comicbook. Yup, it has Japanese influence in the art – but it was still very Filipino. The art was good, and so are the plot and the stories.

I was in my late elementary when the first issue of Culture Crash came out, and since then I promised to collect each single issue (sadly, I missed two issues). I did not mind of their irregular schedules of releasing issues. I really wanted Culture Crash to succeed – thinking it would start the revolution in Filipino comics. I was wrong. Culture Crash has its ups… but it cannot fully become paramount.

Culture Crash never finished the stories. I do not know if I would ever know the ending of One Day Isang Diwa, Pasig, Cat’s Trail, Solstice Butterfly, and Kuburi Kikiam. All I can do now is reread the past issues.

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Well, there are decent local comicbooks out there. Like indie comics (mostly manga influenced), and those published by Mango.

But I guess it isn’t enough. Filipino comicbooks are not very popular. Captain Barbell and Darna cannot be Superman (or is Captain Marvel?) and Wonder Woman.

It would be really cool if finally the Filipino comicbooks will be proudly put beside the foreign comics on the stands and racks.

I will never lose faith in the Filipino comicbook industry. I will never lose faith in Filipinos. Someday, my dreams about the improvement of the comicbook industry may come true.

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Hanging Around The Bookstores

Being a bookworm, bibliophile, and literature collector, I spend a lot of time hanging out at the bookstores. When I have some free time, I take trips to the bookstores, or when my family goes out, I excuse myself sometimes and visit the bookstores. I always did these since I was a kid.
I find browsing around the bookstores fun. I like the thrill of finding a book I really wanted to have after years of searching for it. And to find that the price of the book is something I can afford is a big plus.
Sometimes, I spend very long times in bookstores. Browsing and scanning each nook and cranny of the store; reading the synopsis at back of the books.
The National Bookstore was my favorite when I was a kid. There was still no National Bookstore here in Legazpi City back then (it only arrived here last year). And when I got the chance to visit one - like one in Manila or Cebu - heck, I spent hours there, very happy. And I obtained some pretty good books from National Bookstore for my collection, like “Jo’s Boys”, Pugad Baboy compilations, Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys. The only down part about National Bookstore is the price; very often. I cannot afford the books. But still the National Bookstore is one of my favorite bookstores, and I visit the place occasionally.
But my most favorite bookstore, at this time, is Book Sale. The bookstore, either with their own place or those consigned with malls and other stores, where someone can find cool literature, old literature, new literature, and - most importantly - cheap literature. Yes, most of the books are second hand or residual stock, but I’m not complaining. I found good books here with cheap prices… heck, imagine getting an Ian Fleming James Bond novel for 15 php, or a Crossgen comicbook for only 12 php… great deal!
Well, bookstores are a whole lot better hangout than libraries. And as long as there are bookstores - especially like Book Sale - hanging around them will brighten my day. Literature can always brighten one’s days.

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Love And Romance... Almost Everywhere

Hmmm. I don’t understand why love and romance are almost everywhere. Really they are.

First, in stories in literature and movies. Sure there are novels and flicks that have romance all that stuff as the main concept (love stories). But look at other kinds of stories as well; love and romance are still sub-plots or sub-themes of it. In action, fantasy, mystery, suspense, thriller, comedy… whatever, why do there are often some romantic themes in them? Like, the main character in action or comedy often have a leading lady (or leading man), or the genre is suspense but still you can find a romantic theme there somewhere, or the hero of a fantasy should rescue a damsel in distress… and things like that that have romantic flavor in stories. Read a book or watch a movie, doesn’t matter what kind, chances are there is some romantic part in it. Heck, even in the comic books, Superman has Lois Lane.

And also on those TV shows. Doesn’t matter if it is a soap (which often have the same dosage of romance as much as drama in them) or something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Charmed, X-Files, Star Trek or anything, there are romantic them in each of them somewhere. And you can also find it on cartoons and other animations, from Japanese animes to Disney shows, love and romance are still there. Tamahome has Miaka, and Mickey Mouse has a Minnie Mouse. And even though there’s a big difference between Armitage and Kim Possible (though both of the main characters are female)… yup, there’re still romantic themes in them.

There, love and romance are in literature, movies and TV shows, even if the story is not about love at all, you’ll still find some romantic parts in them.

And it doesn’t en with stories. It’s in music, too. Most songs have themes like love, romance, heartbreak, courtship, or anything of that’s sort. See? Love and romantic themes are even in music. Love is a popular theme with songwriter. Even hardcore rock bands sing songs about love or anything related to it. Some even spent their entire music careers to sing only about love (ever heard of an Air Supply song with no love theme in it?). Wipe out love and romance out of the music scene and you also wipe out a very large percentage of all known songs in human history (all Air Supply songs will be wiped out, and Cueshe has nothing to sing about).

Love and Romance are all around us nowadays, from media to airwaves. IT only proves how much people are interested in these themes. With all these different ideas and concepts about love from music, literature and entertainment, makes me wonder of humans still knows what true love is all about.

Mmmm. All these stuff about love and romance are okay sometimes, I guess. It gives some thrills and sparks – not only to stories – but also to our lives. I just hope that all this will not distort the true meaning of love.
The danger of it all is with all this concepts about love and romance everywhere, our generation will jump into relationships (or will want to jump) without thinking; with no patience, understanding, and evaluation of emotions, and with this in mind, “Heck, even Mr. Bean and Donald Duck have girlfriends, why shouldn’t I have one?” Pity.

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Fiction Fondness

I love good stories. And good stories are mostly found in fiction. That’s why I read a lot of novels and comicbooks, and watch a lot of movies and TV shows. I love good stories. I love fiction.

I think fiction is an integral part of the growth of ones; imagination. It feeds our imagination. Fiction and imagination helps us to see not only how things are, but how things can be.

You can learn a lot of things from fiction as much as you can learn a lot from fact. I learned trivias, lessons, ideas, and even facts from fiction. I believe not only feeds out imagination, but also knowledge and wisdom. .

Fiction is not only good entertainment, but also a good refuge. Sometimes it’s good just to forget all about the realities if this world of fact, and just sit back, relax, and read a good novel or watch a good movie. For an interval of time that we are indulge with fiction, we forget about our problems, worries, frustrations, disappointments and pain.

There’s nothing wrong living in a world of fiction. Just don’t live there forever. The world of fact should not be completely forgotten – no matter how hard to accept, it’s still the more important thing. The realities of life still has to be faced in the world of fact, the world of fiction just helps to refresh us to face the challenges.

I read a statement like this somewhere (I forgot how it really goes), but I’ll paraphrase it as ending: ‘Fiction is not important because it tells us there are dragons, but because it tells us that dragons can be slayed.’

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Troubles

Got myself thinking lately… thinking about those bad things that happens in my life. You know, those bad things… like those problems, those pains, those failures, those mistakes, those troubles… bad things that disturb and bother our minds. Got myself into thinking if being bothered and disturbed by these bad things are worthwhile. I understand it might be a choice if you want to be greatly affected by these bad things that happens.

And I think there is a greater meaning with all these “bad things” or troubles that happens in my life – and to everybody’s life.

* * *

I read about this old flower lady with an optimistic and admirable outlook. When asked why she wears her troubles well, she replies, “When Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, that was the worst day for the whole world. Then three days later – Easter. So when I get troubles, I’ve learned to wait three days. Somehow everything gets all right again.” Fun lady. Troubles? “Wait three days… somehow everything gets all right by then.”

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I have another one. You know the story of Joseph (Israel’s son) in the Bible? Betrayed and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, for 20 pieces of silver (Hey, I know of another who was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver… yup, that’s another material but let’s stick with Joseph, besides I assume you know the story about this other one), framed by his master’s wife, and then spent twelve years in prison… those were really bad things that happened to him, right?

Well, not exactly. If Joseph was not sold into slavery and framed to be thrown to prison, he wouldn’t have told the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream, save Egypt from famine, got the glory of being governor of all Egypt, and save the tribe of Israel from being wiped out by the famine. God used those bad things, so for a greater good as the result… and all those bad things that happened were outweighed by the good result.

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In our perspectives, these troubles happening to us may be bad, but that’s only in the present. We do not know the whole picture and the future. Like Joseph’s years of suffering in Egypt and Christ’s dying on the cross, those things were “bad things”, but what happened after all that? Now you get the point.

Only God knows everything. All these bad things – these troubles – are all temporary. So, when troubles fall on us, let us be patient… wait for three days like the flower lady, or many years like Joseph or even for a whole lifetime. The glory and reward for all eternity in Heaven will outweigh all the troubles of God’s Chosen Ones in Earth.
It’s gonna be alright.

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Hope I gave you something to ponder on. Things may appear bad for the present, but in the future, it might bring a great good… or vice versa. Only God knows, so we must trust Him. All in this world is temporary, we must all remember that.

I’ll leave you this story I read in “In the Eye of the Storm” by Max Lucado. Hope you will enjoy the story and find the wisdom and moral in it, like I did. Here goes:

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Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before – such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man refused. “This horse is not a horse to me,” he would tell them. “It is a person. How would you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?” The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. The entire village came to see him. “You old fool,” they scoffed, “we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Don’t speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. This is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I’ve been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?”

The people contested, “Don’t make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse.”

The old man spoke again. “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?”

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn’t, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke, “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.”

The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How would you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the whole phrase?

“Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t”

“Maybe the old man is right,” they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

“You were right,” they said. “You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are obsessed with judging. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

“You were right, old man,” they wept. “God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son’s accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows.”

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Which between the two is better? Electric Guitar or Acoustic Guitar?

hmmmm. good question. what is the better instrument to play? it is true that the electric guitar is much used by bands nowadays. but the acoustic guitar can be played even without a pick up, even without electricity. so the acoustic is a portable jamming instrument. you use both guitars differently. i pluck an electric guitar by the use of the picking technique, with or without a pick. i pluck an acoustic guitar with my four fingers, which the pinkie is the only finger not used. in playing the electric guitar, it is cooler to see you standing with your strap extended enough so that the guitar is within or below your waist. in playing the acoustic guitar, it is cooler to see you sitting down on a stool. but what is really the cooler instrument to play? the electric guitar is a cool instrument. it can do many things an acoustic guitar cannot do. you can do many different effects and sounds from it by the use of an amp or/and an gadget. the use of distortion, overdrive, flanger, chorus, delay, echo, fuzz and many different kinds of effects allows you to do cool lead pieces and ad libs. muted strumming is more effective in an electric. artificial harmonics is also more effective. the sound from an electric can last a long time form the last time you ringed or plucked it by the use of an effect (overdrive usually). you can do a lot of things from an electric, especially the feedback technique. imagine using an acoustic guitar to play the cool Bon Jovi (or any rock band's) guitar fills and guitar instrumentals. the acoustic guitar has it's own beautiful sound. it has a unique clean sound better than clean electric guitar. maybe because of the wood and all the acoustics inside the guitar. classical guitar (the guitar with no fret marks, thicker neck and different tuning keys) is a cool instrument to play. especially if you studied to play it and knows how to play the guitar using notes, not only chords. some acoustic players uses cool styles different from classical playing. Like the guitar playing of Paolo Santos in "Foolish Heart", Ryan Cabrera in "True" and Chin in "Especially for You" (MYMP revival). the use of the Spanish guitar is also awesome, with that cool Latino feeling in its sounds. like in "Lonely No More", it was great and i think it is very difficult. doing the muting guitar is not bad in the acoustic guitar. you can see that in Avril Lavigne's "Why". now another question, what is much better, band versions or acoustic versions? well, it depends for me. often acoustic versions are just as good as the original band versions. like "My Immortal", "Suntok sa Buwan" and "Sige". and sometimes the acoustic version is much better. like the Eagle's favorite "Hotel California". i like the original one with all that cool fills and guitar solo. but the acoustic version is much better with the long intro and better guitar playing. now back to the question, what is much better, electric or acoustic? well, it depends on the taste of a person. i love both. both has cool and unique characteristics. besides, it does not matter what you love to play. what matters is why are you playing. is it to let yourself be recognized and glorified, or is it to have fun and please and praise God. the latter should be the answer. Glory to God!

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2006:The Year That Has Been

Year 2006 was, um, different… got me asking to myself, “All these things happened in just a year?” Some fun, got into troubles, some pains, some failures, some successes, learned new things… and a lot of things. Consider some of the things that happened this year:

Passed the UPCAT and BUCET. I graduated in high school. Saw my bestfriend after four years. My jazz guitar getting a small but ugly damage… arg! Got into college. Miami Heat’s championship, and Dwyane Wade’s Finals MVP. Won an acoustic guitar instrumental contest in our intramural’s litmus. The annoying Da Vinci Code controversy at its peak. Got my heart broken for the first time, when my girlfriend and I broke up. Kobe Bryant changed his jersey number to 24. Played in the best evangelization concert I had so far. The reconciliation of Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and the return of D-X. Me. Learning how to jump rope. Schumacher retiring, and Alonso winning the Formula One. My cats getting bullied by an ugly cat in our neighborhood for the entire year. Italy winning the World Cup. Pac-Man beats Morales in their third meeting (it was a Pac-Man year). The great journalist Max Soliven passed away, I'll miss his columns (the good thing is, his death's cause is not beacuse of political killing - which many journalists in this country suffered this year). Albay got hit by typhoons Kaloy, Milenyo and Reming (the last one triggering heavy flash floods of “lahar”); suffered most with Reming (strongest typhoon I experienced so far), killing and destroying a lot here in Albay (and me fighting 260 kph winds, trying to keep our door from being broken by the wind, but eventually the wind beating me and breaking the door hitting me hard on the face)… got the whole month of December with no classes, and no electricity… long lines in gasoline stations, ATM machines, grocery stores, water stations and charging stations… ten-peso lighter-flashlights very popular. The NY Knicks and Denver Nuggets’ brawl. The tsunami scare (with many cursing the bloody bastards who started it). Allen Iverson being traded to the Denver Nuggets, making an AI-Melo nucleus super team (this is yet to be seen when Carmelo Anthony returns). Saddam Hussein getting hanged before the year is over. First 007 movie (Casino Royale) of Daniel Craig. The con-ass, con-con, cha-cha, whatever. PDA winner Yeng Constantino’s “Hawak Kamay” the most popular song around. Lyndon Gregorio’s Beerkada went to Tokyo for their Christmas vacation. Got Mark Twain’s “Life on the Mississippi” and Louisa May Alcott’s “Jo’s Boys” as Christmas gifts (two of the books I really wanted of having in my collection). Getting a typhoon damaged Power Mark Comics compilation of series one. Before the end of the year, the settlement of the basketball crisis in the Philippine - in the delight of basketball fans like me. Me, learning how to whistle with my fingers. DOTA being the most popular game here this year. James Brown, godfather of soul, passing away. Enteng Kabisote III winning best picture in the Metro Filmfest. Michael Jordan getting a divorce. Max’s and National Bookstore franchises opened in Pacific Mall; both a first in Legazpi (Learned a new way of getting depressed… visit a National Bookstore branch and look at the prices on those wonderful books… voila, instant depression). I discovered this year that Edward L. Strateneyer, and members of his syndicate, is the author – or rather, the authors – of Hardy Boys and only used the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon; the same with Nancy Drew, Strateneyer is the one who is the author of Nancy Drew books, continues by his daughter Harriet S. Adams, and used the pseudonym Carolyn Keene (and I had always though all through this years that Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene are true persons and creators of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew respectively). And me, asleep at 12:00 of the New Year’s Eve of 2007… a first time in years.

What a year.

I wonder what would 2007 be like?

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