Manix Abrera's "12"

I'll agree with Gerry Alanguilan when he said that one of the best things to have come out of KOMIKON 2009 was Manix Abrera's "12".

The book contains 12 short stories in comic book form. But it's a silent comic! No words at all!

But it'll make you laugh, cry, feel good, feel bad, puke, and so many other things. Manix did a heck of a job with 12. He's a comic book genius! This was one of THE BEST comic books I have ever read in my entire life. Being an avid comic book reader, this is top notch BEST IN CLASS!

The drawings are simple but totally effective. Telling a story without words is so hard to execute but Manix made it look a piece of cake for him. This book is out of this world brilliant!

It's in full color and it's worth every peso! I was fortunate to have my copy signed by Manix himself.

People, if there was one book I can really really really recommend, it would be this. You don't like words. Read this book!!!

I have to check where it's available first. But I would assume that it would be available in comic book shops by now.

I hope Manix reads this because I would like to thank him for creating this masterpiece!!! May he create many many more comics!!! Mabuhay si Manix Abrera!!!

Blue, Yellow, Gray

The tandem of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale did a couple of books a few years back. These were the "colored" ones.

Namely, the books were Spider-Man: Blue, Daredevil: Yellow, and Hulk: Gray (Spidey is the only one who didn't have previous costume/look) All were mini-series.

Featured were Peter Parker, Matt Murdock, and Bruce Banner. In these stories, it dealt with them coping/reflecting on their first loves who passed away... Gwen Stacy, Karen Page, and Betty Ross.

Now I found these books good reads since these heroes were trying to forget about their first loves. They were trying to move on but just couldn't. The books showed a process of returning to the past to heal. All of them had different methods. Peter was talking to a tape recorder during Valentine's Day, Matt was writing a letter, and Bruce was talking to his shrink/friend Doctor Leonard Samson.

I got to see more and more of the human side of these characters. Here they were, grieving for losing their first loves. The sadness in the words they were saying, the special moments they were reflecting on. Simple but moving.



I think the whole concept of "first love" was tackled excellently by Jeph Loeb. Though they moved on, the firsts would always remain. I think these were the best ones written by Jeph Loeb for Marvel, since he came back, he hasn't really written anything that's at par with these. Sorry Mr. Loeb but I didn't like Ultimates 3 at all...

Going back to the 3 books, they are all equally brilliant! However, being not so much of a fan of the Hulk, the Gray storyline caught me by surprise. I actually loved Hulk: Gray. It was pretty good! Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow are classics but you have to read all 3 to appreciate the work done by Loeb and Sale. They're all awesome!


I was reading a recent issue of Fantastic Four and Ben Grimm was supposed to get married. But he backed away because he saw Peter, Matt, and Bruce. In the background, the artist put the ladies. Gwen, Karen, and Betty. Ben Grimm thought that he didn't wanna go through what the 3 men went through. It was just plain difficult if the girl dies. Now note that Gwen and Karen were killed by deadly enemies of the heroes (Norman Osborn and Bullsye). I can't say arch nemesis because Bullseye isn't the primo against Daredevil. (It's Wilson Fisk, fyi :) )


So if you're a dude who wants to reflect/move-on. Try picking up these books. You actually may learn a thing or two. Start with Spidey and end with The Hulk.

It's good to see how human these super-powered people are. I think that's what separates them from the DC heroes.

Peter, Matt, and Bruce will forever be haunted by the sad memories of their first loves but they moved on. Although, they still have to put up with the baddies...

Check these books out guys! Top notch!

On Registering to Vote

I'm happy that most of my friends are registered voters. Though I have some who wanna vote but are just too busy... I hope they register.

But I'm happy that I have friends in the office who will be first time voters. I know that they wanna see change in the Philippines. They wanna see integrity back in Philippine politics.

We can always hope for the betterment of the country.

However, when someone wins the seat, we cannot leave it up to him/her. We have to play our part too...

That's why I'm happy that I have friends doing their part. They registered to vote.

After my countless kakulitan to them, they finally did :)

500 Days of Summer - my honest review

I'm not gonna post something inspirational. I'm here to talk about a fantastic movie that I just saw.

Spoilers ahead. Be warned.

500 Days of Summer was very well crafted, witty, fun, sad, and different all at the same time. The title alone will let you know that the 2 main characters won't end up with each other.

It was the perfect relationship set to end with an expiration date.

There will be things we will never understand on LOVE but that's the beauty of it. 500 Days made me see things that I could relate with. I was able to relate with the process of moving on.

Towards the end of the movie, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), was told to look back at the past. But on a condition not to look at the happy memories. He had to look at the bad ones. I think that sometimes we ignore the simple bad things that happen in the relationship. You realize that when you look back at the past and see the flaws, you'll get to understand.

I think guys will have to go through their "Summers". I think it's something all, if not, most guys go through in life. You deal with heartbreaks. You get to live with it, forget about it, and finally move on with life.

What I believe in is that things happen for a reason. Whether it be good things or bad things, they happen for a reason. The reason, we may not understand but it's supposed to happen for the grander scheme of things.

To all the nice guys out there who got their hearts broken, watch this movie. You'll like it. I promise you that.

Early Christmas Ideas

My friend's girlfriend called me earlier asking for tips on what graphic novel to give for Christmas.

I thought that for the ladies who want to give their fanboy better halves a Christmas gift, here are my graphic novel suggestions.

I'm just gonna throw in the non-mainstream ones ok?

1. Invincible by Robert Kirkman (Image) - Spider-Man meets Superman.
2. The Sword by The Luna Brothers (Image) - just buy this, it rocks!
3. The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan (Dark Horse) - Geek love!!!
4. Criminal by Ed Brubaker (Icon) - heavy reading but it's worth every page!
5. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (Image) - Not horror at all, it's character development at its finest!

Local ones rock too!

1. Elmer by Gerry Alanguilan
2. TRESE books 1, 2, and 3 by Budjette Tan
3. Martial Law Babies by Arnold Arre
4. 12 by Manix Abrera (ONE OF THE BEST I'VE READ... OF ALL TIME!)

You can get these books in the ff: if you're living in the Metro Manila Area

1. Druid's Keep - Gateway Center in Magallanes
2. Comic Odyssey - Robinsons Galleria, Ermita, Eastwood Cybermall
3. Fully Booked stores
4. Sputnik - Cubao Expo

The fun at weddings!

I love the photobooths at weddings! Panalo! I remember the neoprint days in the late 90's. Now that was fun!

I have several friends who are now engaged and I was asking them how they were feeling attending weddings. One of them wasn't feeling anything at all. She said that it hasn't sunk in yet. Hahaha. Wala lang daw.

But I can only imagine how much preparation is needed in weddings. Geez. At least I'm not getting married anytime soon!

KOMIKON 2009

It's been a year since I was in KOMIKON!!!

But 2009 is rather different. Venue wise that is... KOMIKON was held in Megamall at the Megatrade Hall 1. Not a bad venue at all!


First booth I saw was Budjette Tan's booth and I was able to get TRESE Book 3 signed by Budjette himself and Kajo Baldisimo! I also couldn't pass up on the Trese magnets!!! Trese and the Kambal!!! I'll probably put them on my cube at work.



There were also customized Mighty Mugg versions of the Kambal. Too bad they were only for display...


My main goal was to get a copy of Gerry Alanguilan's "Where Bold Stars Go To Die". So I found his booth and since there was a line, I chatted with his lovely wife Ilyn first. She's the better half of Mr. Komikero :) Hahahaha. Gerry's partner in crime for this book is the very talented Arlanzandro Esmena.

Komikero with the artist fanboys :)

Gerry was also selling a new version of ELMER! This one's a collected version :)


I met up with the Ninoy Art and Essay contributors too. Besides Gerry, Harvey Tolibao, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, and Stephen Segovia were there at the kon.



I got Francisco Coching's El Indio too. I was talking too Heubert Khan Michael and we agreed that El Indio was a must get!!! It was only fitting to get that in KOMIKON 2009!!!

The last book I got was Manix Abrera's "12". It's fully colored!!! Plus the guy is awesome!!! He sold his Pulp Hope book to me!!! Hahahaha!!!


Cosplayers this year were on the down-low. Not so much of them... It was weird. Cosplayers are a must for comic conventions in the Philippines!!! But I was glad that a lot of people were there to support the local creators!!! :) Loved this year's KOMIKON!!! A lot of awesome buys!!!

Anyway, here are scenes from this year's KOMIKON.