Babbling Point

It was December, when four friends went on a road trip in search of the best tasting dishes in the province. Unfortunately, in their quest for the most delicious meal, they may have driven into a town where someone eagerly awaits to have them for dinner. THE FEAST Story by Budjette Tan Script by Budjette Tan and Alex Arellano Art by Kajo Baldisimo Exclusively available in the December issue of UNO magazine . (Look for the one with the delectable Iza Calzado on the cover)

Hosted by Kevin Smith, with guests Jason Lee, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill and JJ Abrams. DINNER FOR FIVE was show conceptualized and hosted by Jon Favreau. My cousin Oliver gave me a copy of the first season. I lent it to someone and now I don't remember who has it. Thank God for YouTube and I was able to find this episode where Kevin Smith played guest-host of the show. I like the format of the show. It's very informal. Not the usual host behind the desk and the guest is seated on the couch. I think more interesting stories are told over food and drinks. The guests end up talking about things they wouldn't normally mention during an interview. Ever since I saw this show, I thought it would great to replicate it locally. I have seen some local shows attempt something like this, but somehow it doesn't come off as interesting. I think what makes DINNER FOR FIVE work well is the editing. They've chosen all of the good parts of the conversation and edited out the boring part...

ANG MASKOT by Macoy 48-pages, black-and-white (P50.00) Available at Comic Odyssey and Sputnik Comics If I were to do the Hollywood-pitch for ANG MASKOT, I’d say : it’s WASTED meets ELMER which then crosses-over with CREST HUT BUTT SHOP ANG MASKOT tells the story of what happens when you put a very angry man in a very cute, chicken mascot suit -- someone’s going to get hurt. (Thankfully, nobody gets killed, which is what sets it apart from “Wasted” and “Elmer”.) The story starts with a guy wearing the chicken outfit and he’s seated on the sidewalk, outside of a McBird fast food store. The chicken’s head/helmet sits beside him, ogling at something in the distance. He’s smoking and realizes that his shift is about to begin and the first words out of his mouth is, “Siyet.” He gets called in and is introduced as Jholeebird and the kids mob him. He counts down his mandated 15 minutes, sweating and cursing while inside the chicken suit. At the end of his shift, he stands in the middle of the ...

When I was working on that photo meme last week, I found this pic in my Flickr page. I wrote and drew these comic books when I was in grade school. (Because it would be very embarrassing if I just wrote and drew these last week.) JBB were the first letters of my name, my brother's and my uncle's. I’d use whatever paper I'd find lying around and draw with colored pens and stapled the pages together. JBB COMICS had three titles back then: COSMIC MAN, who rode the cosmos in his cosmic ship and fought evil with his cosmic gun and cosmic net and cosmic utility belt. LIGHTNING HAWK, who got his powers after he was bitten by a hawk that was struck by lightning. I had a team book called THE COMPUTER CREEPS. They ordinary computer parts that suddenly came alive when they were struck by lightning.(Yes, I wasn't very original back then.) The team was composed of The Monitor, The Keyboard, The Hard Drive, The MicroCHiPs (who rode on little motorbikes), and The Transformer (because ...

Originally posted by Marvel editor C.B. Cebulski at: http://twitter.com/CBCebulski Every year, [the] same "writer" tells me how he's better than Bendis, and same "artist" can't understand how Bachalo gets work over him. No, seriously, I heard "I deserve..." and "I'm just as good as..." maybe 5 or 6 times at NYCC from writers & artists looking for work. This has been going on for four years now, con after con, and neither has broken into the top five publishers in that time. I wonder why? And just to clarify, while I meet and talk to writers, I can't read pitches & proposals or discuss stories. My job is to find artists only. Oh, I'm not venting, just trying to head off any potential confusion. Don't want people pitching me when they shouldn't be. Hope that helps. Ultimately, it's the editors who hire the writers & artists. They choose the talent on their books. Disturbing but eye-opening fact: No writer...

Comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis talks about … MAKING YOUR LAST COMIC BOOK: I’m always amazed by the people who work so hard to get here [a job in Marvel], or so lucky to get there. It takes an insane amount of work to get there and when they get there and they start bucking around, they start diva-ing it up and get high and mighty and totally forget … [you have to remember] what job you have in comics, someone else had that job before you. Settle down! And work! Now is the time to do the work of your life. Now is the time to express yourself like no one else has ever done. You should [write or draw this comic book] like it’s your last, like you’re going to be fired after this. And I do this. Remember … someone else had this job and someone else will have it after you. It’s up to you how long you can keep it. Big name people –BIG NAME PEOPLE—cannot get work because they act the fool. PROMOTING YOUR WORK: Just getting the book out … just birthing it to the world… is not enough. T...

In this unmissable look at the magic of comics, Scott McCloud bends the presentation format into a cartoon-like experience, where colorful diversions whiz through childhood fascinations and imagined futures that our eyes can hear and touch.

“I hate comic books, by the way. I don’t read them. Not anymore. But somehow, it always comes to me, so I just do it. It is a job after all. But I got no love for it.” I was surprised to get this email from Mr M, who I’ve been trying to convince to do a comic book project. If you ever see this guy’s work, it will blow you away. He’s a great artist! Below is the rest of his email: “Hate comic books and that includes manga, by the way. LOL! As you know, doing comics isn’t very profitable for artists (unless you’re already working for big time companies), but if you’re working here in the Philippines, you don’t get much. You do a lot to finish a page and yet, you get so little. Before, I did it for fun. But I’ve been doing this ever since I was 16 and it’s now become a chore. So I guess that’s where my hate for comics comes from. Given a choice, I'd rather not work in an art-related industry. But still draw for fun. Drawing for work has become too tedious for me and maybe that’s why ...

Imagine, if you were an aspiring comic book writer or artist, and you were living in 1980, what opportunities would be available to you? Around this time, the local komiks industry was still doing well and if you worked hard enough, knocked on the right doors, you could get yourself published. If you wanted to work for Marvel and DC Comics, then it would be best that you already know certain people working for those companies. You could try and send a cold submission via air mail (or if you could afford it, via FedEx). What if you wanted to create your own comic book character and publish it yourself? Well, that was almost unheard of back then. Jump-cut to 14 years later. Imagine, if you were an aspiring comic book writer or artist, and you were living in 1994, what opportunities would be available to you? Around this time, desktop publishing software was becoming more affordable. Photocopier machines now produced better copies. Colored Xerox machines also started to arrive in the co...

The Flag Bearer I have always found it curious that in Philippine pop culture, there has never been a popular flag-bearing character. In United States, the obvious example would be Captain America; followed by Wonder Woman (with her red, white, blue and star-spangled outfit) and of course, Superman (whose costume follows the color motif of the American flag). They became symbols for the American people during World War II. In the days after 9/11, more New Yorkers were seen wearing their Superman and Captain America t-shirts. If we take a look at other countries, they didn’t seem to see the need to create such a character. Even when Marvel created characters like The Guardian (a Canadian super-hero) and Union Jack (a British super-hero), they didn’t seem to develop a big enough following and have comic book titles that reached the 100th issue or spin-off to become a TV or cartoon show. Here in the Philippines, popular characters like Darna and Panday are not “flag bearers”. I guess, ...

That clown from Stephen King’s “IT” freaked us out. Me and Brandie borrowed the LaserDisc of that movie way back in the early 90s. It promptly gave us nightmares and inspired our first comic book collaboration: PAYASO. Brandie was a big fan of Dave McKean, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Duncan Fegredo’s art in ENIGMA. He even managed to hunt down the works of McKean’s mentor: Barron Storey. So, when we decided to do that short story for COMICS 101, he was clearly playing tribute to his comic book idols. The next time we collaborated was for our contribution in the short-lived literary anthology CHIMERA. Once again, I wrote the story and he did the art. Of course, I already told you about the time we published our own newspaper and the time we worked on his Great Taste campaign . Now that we’re working for our respective agencies, we don’t get to collaborate much, but that doesn’t stop him from giving me advice on how to make my work better. Maybe the opportunity will eventually come that we’l...

I finally found a copy of SINDAK! in Filbars. This was scheduled to come out a little after Holy Week, but its great that it was made available this week, since it comes close to the release of TRESE: BOOK 1 (more about that in the next couple of days). So, if you’d like to know more about the origins of Trese, is there or isn’t there a “Trese movie” in the works, do we have anyone in mind for the casting of Trese, who was the mysterious Frenchman who called up Comic Quest, then all the answers can be found in SINDAK! #1 !!! Of course, other reasons to pick up this horror-thriller magazine are the comic book stories by Gerry Alanguilan, Randy Valiente, KC Cordero, Novo Malgapo, Ner Perdina, and the rest of the Sindak! Team. Many thanks to KC Cordero, Athena Fregillana, Paul del Rosario for featuring me and Kajo (and TRESE) in their first issue.

mystery girl As news of the cancellation of two local comic book titles are mentioned in the blogosphere, it's great to receive news that a new company will venture into comic book publishing. The company is called BLUE COW and their comic book is called PRIVATE IRIS. Their first comic book project will definitely get a lot of buzz since it was created by the team behind CAST: Jamie Bautista and Arnold Arre. SYNOPSIS : “Private Iris” is a mystery comic series that challenges kids of all ages to match wits with MacGuffin Plains’ brilliant but secretive super sleuth, Private Iris. When Danton, the most popular boy in school, joins forces with Private Iris, the most intelligent loner in town, you get a crime-solving team that can’t be beat! Iris’ genius level intellect and high-tech gadgets combined with Danton’s winning personality and his amazing athletic skills will show that there’s no case that can’t be cracked and no villain that can’t be caught. So join Private Iris and Danton...

in stores now : KADILIMAN and TRESE 7 KADILIMAN: IN THEIR SILENT SHADOW CARNIVAL Written by David Hontiveros Art by Edgar Tadeo (click thumbnails to see larger version) During the final days of World War II, the Nazis activated a doomsday device somewhere in the Pacific. The Justice Corps, the Philippines super-hero team, was the only one who could respond in time to stop the device. The survivors of that fateful day were Bituwin, The Ermitanyo, and the super-villain Dr. Kadiliman. Decades later, we find Dr. Kadiliman, trying to live a peaceful life with his granddaughter Kadi. Once a year, on the anniversary of that day of sacrifice and heroism, Dr. Kadiliman disappears. Where does he go? Who does he meet with? Discover the answers in KADILIMAN: IN THEIR SILENT SHADOW CARNIVAL. TRESE 7: EMBRACE OF THE UNWANTED Story by Budjette Tan Art by Kajo Baldisimo At the lowest basement of the MagnaMall, the mangled body of a woman is found. The trail of blood brings Alexandra Trese face-to-face...

Butch Perez, film director , Lifetime Underachievement Awardee. Budjette Tan , advertising creative director by day, aspiring superhero by night . Jaime Augusto Zobel, corporate overlord, publisher of Flip, Bruce Wayne? All part of Jessica's READERS' BLOC at: http://jessicarulestheuniverse.com/2007/12/19/readers-bloc-2007/ (wow, I guess that's the closest I'll ever get to JAZA.) hehehe

YOU KILLED MY MASTAH! NOW I KILL YOU! Well, that line isn’t really said in THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST: THE LAST IRON FIST STORY, but Danny Rand does say, “I know kung-fu! Hi-yaa!!!” TIIF:TLIFS (aka the really kick-ass Iron Fist story) written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with art by David Aja (and whole lot of other artists who do the flashback scenes) was something I finally got to read it over the weekend thanks to Ian “I’ve got Neil Gaiman’s home address and you don’t” Sta. Maria. I first got interested with this title when I heard Matt Fraction and John Siuntres talk about over at Word Balloon . Then I read rave reviews about it at the now-defunct Major Spoilers site. I was never really a fan of Iron Fist, but I do remember buying the last POWER MAN & IRON FIST comic book where Iron Fist died (and like all Marvel characters, they just won’t stay dead. Hey! Is that Captain America I see crawling out of his grave?) Well, that doesn’t matter. Readers who don’t know a thing abou...

RAK EN ROL COMICS I was Comic Odyssey today, collecting the sales of TRESE (where it got sold out! thank you, all five of you who bought!). While waiting to chat with Sandy, the owner, a butterball of a boy came running in the store. He was probably 11 or 12 years old. He ran to one of the sales ladies and asked, "Miss, do you have Umbrella Academy?" The lady quickly lead him to the shelf that had a copy and grabbed it with both hands. "MOM!" he yelled, "This is the comic book!" He looked towards the door and his mom had not yet stepped in the store. He stared at the cover, both hands still on the book, and he whispered, "I've been looking for this." I couldn't help but ask, "You're a fan of Umbrella Academy ?" Before he even said anything, I knew what his answer would be. The kid smiled and said, "I'm a fan of Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance!" His mom finally caught up with him and he ran to his mom with hi...

WE HAVE SUCH SITES TO SHOW YOU I still remember Andre lending me his copies of THE PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL with that dark artstyle that just blew you away as a kid. (Well, we were already in college, but I still felt like a kid.) The artist signed his name with Japanese characters, so I never really thought about his nationality even after reading that his name was "Whilce Portacio". When Whilce took over X-FACTOR, "Marvel Age" ran an interview about him and that was the first time I found out he was Filipino. His Iceman vs. the Cyborg-Ninjas is still one of my favorite X-Factor stories. So, after getting to draw most of the Marvel Universe, it seems like Whilce is setting his sights on the DC Universe. He just finished a gig at BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL and is now working on a SUPERMAN/BATMAN story arc . (Of course, he's still drawing WETWORKS.) Go do the click-click thing and see new his art at: http://whilceportacio.net/ http://www.chemsetcomics.com/ CUT-AND-PASTED FR...

DAMN THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS Just when you thought you’ve come up with something original, you come across someone else’s work that just proves you wrong. I know there’s no way I can claim that TRESE is an original idea, but it is an attempt to tell certain stories from a different point of view. Like I’ve said before, Trese was supposed to be a man, but we decided not to go down that road because of characters like John Constantine and Karl “The Nightstalker” Kolchak. So, we made Trese a woman and one of the first reactions we got was, “Hey! She’s like Kate Beckinsale in `Underworld`!” DOH! Well… no… not really. Then, another reader pointed out to me an anime that had a female lead and her assistant /bodyguard was this tall man who wears a mask. (Thankfully, he didn’t have a twin.) The other week, I was in Fully Booked when I saw this novel and the cover art attracted my attention because she looked like you-know-who. Then I read the blurb in the back: “Something is...

TRESE 7: COMING SOON Previously in TRESE... Read all the latest cases of Alexandra Trese at: http://tresekomix.blogspot.com