COMICS!!!!!!

Let's just pretend that I'm active in this blog. It seems that there are a lot of things I've been wanting to say since I got "creative" again. So, moving on...

I've been making comics again since last year (Silent Sanctum Manga. Available at comic conventions and at Sputnik Comics at Cubao PLUG!!!) Not an easy task, what with juggling work, catching some Zzzz' s and spending some quality time with my girlfriend (the best ever, ZING!!!!!) It's the greatest feeling, really, when you're on a state of coming up with visual ideas and your brain is overflowing with ideas. I admit that I'm not the greatest comic artist ever, but I feel like the best writer ever. Guess I got it from my father. To me, making the story interesting and keeping the reader wanting more is the key to a great comic book story. I've been collecting comics, either local or foreign (as I've noted in a previous log) for quite some time now. Foreign comics can be bought everywhere these days, and that's where I want to say something distressing...

Local comics are really, really few now. People would prefer to watch tv (I've even joked in my Facebook page that "television killed the komiks star) or do something "productive" instead. Distribution is also the problem. Often people would have to go through the ends of the earth to find a copy. Also, since these people (myself included) have "day jobs" and are either doing these for the sake of any hullabaloo, many comics take a long time to be finished. Often they make 2-3 issues per year. It's quite sad, really. I've also noticed that usually readers of these local comics are also comic artists/writers as well. It's hard to get an audience who is just a fan, who knows squat about drawing.

The only thing that stands the test of time are comic strips at newspapers. They have a broad audience, and can appeal to many. What I'm dreaming now is for a publishing companyto start a Heavy Metal-type of comic magazine (must be in large print) that features all kinds of comic stories either in continuity or not. Anyone can submit in less than 2 pages or more in color or the infamous B&W...

Here's hoping...


-"the king"

Absence and MilkShakes...

I know, I know.. it's been a freakin' long time. How long? Well, a lot of things have happened... there's Facebook's popularity, 2009 Metro Comic-Con, personal crisis, my sister away for a couple of months, Bohol trip, my indie comic debut, trips involving my girlfriend and such... I know it's rather inexcusable (at least to 5 of my "fans") but I've just lost it. I've lost that free-spirit to post. I mean, I can still rant or say just about anything ( i.e. higher authorities suck, The Dawn's slow version of "Love Will Set Us Free" is very unimpressive, Strawberry Milkshakes are good with big, juicy burgers, New MYX VJs= New Lame things to look at the picture tube etc. etc. etc.) but it just does not feel right. I don't know. Maybe because I'm in love (cue sitcom audience reply:AAAAWWWW....)

Maybe come back to me when we broke up (cue sitcom audience reply: HHHUHHHHH????) Nah, I kid. For now, I guess, you can just look at my old posts. It may be a while before I would post again. Or not. You can just check my blog often. Until then, stay sharp, b*tches....

-"the king"

The Future, Lucky Kids and Spiderman...

Call it an uncanny kind of irony, but the last time I've posted an opinion on this blog (sponsors open) it completely did the opposite. When I've mentioned how hot it is the rainy season came. Maybe I should mention what I want. Let's start: Uhm, I hope we can go to Boracay with my girlfriend, get more sleep, lose weight, I hope I can introduce my gf to my college friends, kiss Ehra Madrigal's boobs and salary increase at work. Here's hoping...

The kids today are so freakin' lucky. Not just because they can get information easily, or how easy it is to get discovered these days( if they're opting to be a bonafide celebrity) , but they can "wank off" easily just by browsing the tv. Local channels even. Back in my day (now I sound old...) we had to settle for Donita Rose's from her Ober Da Bakod days or Regine Tolentino's from her Palibhasa Lalake days creamy legs. Now kids can easily gawk all they want from Ehra Madrigal, Angel Locsin, Katrina Halili and Marian Rivera's various "assets" on their respective telenovelas or fantaseryes. Lucky kids...

Speaking of kids, it seems hard to look at the future without it looking a little grim. I mean, videogame magazine EGM did present a lot of games that took place in the future as apocalyptic. There's always talks of climate change everywhere. I remember a lesser-known comic strip character that oddly looks like carbonated drink Sprite's mascot, Fido Dido saying " doesn't my generation get to screw anything up?" amid t-shirt statements of "Save the Earth", "Save the Whales", etc. Hopefully Earth will still be inhabitable 30 years from now.

I'm glad PSICOM Publishing is printing recent story arcs from Marvel and DC Comics for less than 100php. It's pretty fulfilling reading these stories if you're just following a story and not collecting variant covers for money. On a related note, Spiderman's stories these days is for new people who don't know much of his old stories. It's fun to read, yet the part where his webbing is not organic and has to always conserve it gets tiring. I mean, it doesn't have to be part of the story all the time. But this is just geek talk for me.

-"the king"

Incredible Heat, Killing Boredom and Andy Capp...

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog. I know, I should be more responsible. But the truth is, I was only able to surf the internet outside our home. Sucks, but that's how it goes. I think better when inside the walls of our home. But, I have the public to entertain (somehow) so I gotta rant even if I'm in a foreign land. That kind of stuff...

Is it me, or have you guys noticed how motherf*cking hot it is these days??? Either blame it on climate change or it's really the worst heat of summer. Why, if I have a peso for every person saying "Ang init!!!!" (usually followed by an expletive) I would have a hundred peso. Then I would buy a scale model of a '57 Chevy. By now you people would be able to know how to "beat the summer heat" so I wouldn't tackle that too much. Let's just stay cool while the sun kills us...

While staying cool there are numerous ways to kill boredom. But since I work, I have a mantra that sometimes it's better to do nothing than doing something (something strenuous, I might add...) Heck, I could go out, read a book, surf the internet, watch porn, complete my '57 Chevy collection (which I'm almost to my goal of 20) learn two chords of a guitar, learn to hold the guitar, draw, paint some abstract crap, watch tv. The list goes on and on...

Recently I was able to score a discounted compilation of everybody's favorite bloke, Andy Capp. For those not in the know, Andy Capp is a famous European comic strip character that is almost as old as Charlie Brown (that Blockhead) He is a lazy husband of Flo, the ever persistent wife of Capp. She works, Capp dozes, goes to the Pub, plays snooker, swears at referees at football games he plays in, etc. Basically he's a sophiscated wife-beater of a sort. His comics are pretty straightforward and almost trite. They just make variations to the theme of Capp being lazy. It gets boring after a few jokes. And his laziness can be rather ridiculous.

Rants: Been listening to Kings of Leon "Use Somebody" (great love song) and James Morrisson's "Broken Strings" (also a great song). Those young columnist at the Ystyle section of the Philippine Star (appearing every friday) feels like a higher authority just gave them a spot. I'm just saying...

-"the king"

Company Brands, Money and Garfield...

It's really hard to come up with new material to rant or criticize about. Sometimes I have to "keep" it in my memory banks until I could find my notebook to write it so I could forget it and think of something else (like porn or select clips from How I Met Your Mother...) Hey, everybody who values their brain has something that they write on... Sometimes I blame myself when I forget something noteworthy by procrastinating. I also suffer from the age-old disease of forgetting something when you are ready to write a material. It happens sometimes...

As I'm typing this I'm eagerly waiting for our salary. Seems the past few days I've been spending a lot on stuff I need to stuff I want, like groceries and a scale model of 57 Chevy, respectively. Especially with the crap that USA is experiencing, it must be really hard to save when you need some disposable income. You just have to prioritize. I just hope that things will be alright around the world 16 months from now. We really don't need another period of The Great Depression that happened in 1929. See? I read my history. Wish I knew more, though...

Speaking of finances, my girlfriend (yes, i have a girlfriend. want to make something out of it?) remarked last time that we went out. She said that she doesn't like those big-name brands that cost so much. It's like you're buying the brand and not the actual product. Y'know, she's right. Most big-name brands are like that. One time I saw a shirt that so thin it's almost transparent and you could see your bellybutton if worn. And it's worth almost 2000p!!! F*ck. You don't need that. For me, being a cheap bastard and all, I buy t-shirts for what is written on it. I like the feeling of someone reading what's printed and laughing at it. Sweet...

I'm currently hooked on Garfield comic strips lately. I enjoy the simplicity of the strip and removing Garfield from the strip and marvelling at his owner's extereme boredom ( to know what I'm talking about, go to http://www.garfieldminusgarfield.net/) although I've seen two instances where a joke was recycled. But I guess being in the business does have it's disadvantages. But still, I'm glad that Garfield is still active, churning out new jokes and misadventures and making kids read.

Rants: Watchmen looks to be good, although it mostly caters to comic book geeks. Ah well, there are like 200 bajillion lonely dorks around the world. With recession hitting the US, maybe Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson might need some more cash and return to drawing. Maybe...

-"the king"

Discovery Channel Shows, Collection and Havaianas...

Almost everybody who knows me knows I'm a cheap bastard... I sometimes eat at my trusty pares cart near our place (and get a worse feeling a few hours later... sometimes.) buy t-shirts at affordable prices (buy at People are People? Hah, Please...) and get the biggest discounts at my ehrm, collectibles. Like a few hours earlier I was able to score a figure from Hasbro's Marvel Legends' less than stellar Fin Fang Foom Wave. I managed to get a better figure from a limited selection at almost 1/3 the price. Nice. Now it got me thinking: should I buy the complete 15-inch Fin Fang Foom figure that I saw last time at a nice discount, or just keep the money for the future (like, say, invest in hybrid car?) Ah, I'll let my brain decide... hopefully if I do decide to buy it, It'll still be there...

Now color me stupid or stubborn, but I think that many fashion accesories and beverages are too darn expensive... A flip-flop worth 1000ph??!! Those closed-toe flip-flops (or called Crocs) worth 2000ph?? Coffee worth 120++ph?? It's like boxer Bernard Hopkins (I think) said, why buy a thousand-dollar watch when you can buy a cheap one that can tell you the same time? Yeah, my collectibles are also not excused for this, heck, you could call them "dust-collectors" yet I would still say, " Oh, go take a flying leap..." or "Make your own Blog and rant about it, mother****er..."

Lately I've been watching this show on Discovery Channel called Time Warp. It's like they've expanded the concept of those moments on tv where they do a slow-motion replay of a certain action. It's really cool to watch (especially the part of a karate master breaking many layers of concrete bricks.) but some of the parts they "time warp" or super-high-definiton-slow-motion are not really science-y. Mostly they border on the "amusing" level or "entertaining" level. I'll also say that the show Mythbusters started the trend of "Extreme Science Shows for Hip Young Teens" like Time Warp. Thanks, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. And also have you seen their other member Kari Byron? Hachi Machi!!!

Rants: Those MYX VJs are really killing me... They just need to be shot at for their useless rambling. I like Akon's new single. The one that goes "Na Na Na Na..." and the Late Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" mostly becuse I've watched the 2000 remake on HBO recently (starring a young Christian Bale...) and Jamie Foxx's "Just Like Me". Very catchy.

-"the king"

Twilight Sh*t, Anger 2 and My MP3...

Believe it or not, I've gone through two rewrites of this post. I almost didn't finish if not for my persistence and some fresh things to insult and rant. Blame it on one person which I wouldn't want to mention as he's not worth my breath. It's my fault entirely, but I still would like to say "ulol bakla!!!" to him, if ever I see him again. We're all like that sometimes...

Anyway, these days I just can't help but be angry sometimes. Feels like I just want to ram an 8-inch steak knife at some people I hate, hated or about to hate. Or hating right now. I guess it comes with the job. Hey, Bruce Banner experienced that. But still, some times I've "Hulked" out I'm embarassed about, and I always try to incorporate calming methods, like breathing. Or fishing (maybe).

Lately, these past few days while travelling or going to malls to look at stuff made me want to "Hulk" out at some dorks, dweebs or effin' male-b*tches. Ever since that ultimate chick-flick-a-rama Twilight came out, I've seen many people of the male demographic reading the novel. Honestly, someone (no, really, I don't give a rat's ass about the story.) told me that the plot is paper-thin. Like Sweet-Valley-High thin. I guess some of these douchebags read the series as a conversation starter to hook up with chicks. (sample dialogue: "You've read New Moon? I've read New Moon!!! I think Edward's character (or whatever) is trailing at some points of the story, but that's just to build the Female character more, don't you think??...) Really, stories involving Vampires is so cliched... I prefer Blade, or at least a story involving Ninjas.

Also, I'm so hooked to my Mp3 (which I call SoundGarden... Chris Cornell tribute.) and I would love to buy an MP3 player with a bigger memory so I can place more songs there. My current music I'm listening is "King Without a Crown" by Matiyashu, " The Metal" by Tenacious D, "All Around me" by FlyLeaf and "Panahon" by Rivermaya. Music is a part of my life. Really.

Rants: The movie "YES Man" starring an old Jim Carrey and her leading lady who looks like Katy Perry is a good, if not somewhat-inspiring movie. The movie won't make you say YES to everything, but you're tempted to try... Watch it!!!! I can't wait for X-Men Origins:Wolverine to show. Feels like it would rejuvenate the franchise. I love the music video and beat of singer Lady Ga-Ga's "Poker Face"

-''the king"