Jumper Cable

Never Heard webcomics august-december 2011 December 23, 2011

We conclude this wave of komiks reviews by paying attention to a door-handle calling card handed out to me during the Komikon. A group of komikero friends, some of the better and best in the local business, they got together and made this website with generally-3-to-4-panel comics. All of them started around August and are continuing to the present.

Lucky Coin (mel casipit) — A cute simple story about a guy who finds a lucky coin and subsequently gets a string of funny lucky events happening to him. The coloring is nice, the illustrations are really adorable, and the events are almost always funny. The sequence wherein the setup is given during one post and the punchline given in the next post is a nice touch.

Reese (wan mananita) — Comic-geek broke guy meets drunk girl at the LRT station. Drunk girl is surprisingly spunky, but guy is oddly drawn to her (and is reluctant to leave her alone in that state). So proceeds a weird exchange between them. Both Reese and Robert and interesting characters, and you want to know more about them, whether or not they end up together. The coloring over the illustrations are a little heavy, but in general it’s not a problem. The paneling is balanced between the illustrations and the dialogue.

Noodle Boy (paolo herras/tepai pascual) — Call center agent and mami-loving boy meets next-door girl while she comes up her apartment with a load of clothes. Poor boy is forced to catch the girl as she trips on the stairs, and thus begins a relationship. Tepai’s art away from the Meganon material shows her continuing improvement as an artist, and her work does look really pretty when colored. The story is delivered through the illustrations (I haven’t seen any dialogue yet!), and delivered well.

Invictus: Land of Amaria (kai castillo) — From the author of the Patintero series, and also has the distinct art style of that longer work. Now that the art is colored, though, it’s quite nice to look at. Much of the first posts are world-building and information-giving, plus initial story grounding, but it’s done really well (and I’m immediately envious how well he does it.) The world presented is rather your typical fantasy story, but the style and pacing draws you in and makes you want more.

The Minkowski Space Opera (aaron felizmeno) — The story with the most impressive line art among the five, it’s set in a science-fiction world where people are after habitable planets. The first order of business: convince a firebird to leave his territory to some new colonizers. Of course, not happening, but it’s quite funny how they try. The two main characters play off each other quite well as a duo, and the comedy is sarcastic throughout. The paneling is highly impressive in this one, utilizing the 4-panel comic format to best use.

On the whole its the meeting of great komiks art in one website, you can’t go wrong giving it a try and following them all.

Tabi Po english issue 1 (mervin malonzo, adam david translation) December 23, 2011

It’s impossible to have not heard of Tabi Po by now, but it’s possible to not have read it yet. This was my situation, and when I found the chance at Komikon, I finally decided, what the heck, I really should be reading this already. I got the Flipreads release at Komikon, as translated into English by Adam David, with the illustrations rendered into grayscale.

Suffice to say that if you know your Tagalog, do yourself a favor and read in Filipino, free of charge on the website. Adam David did a really good translation, that is true, but as in most languages, some of the original feel of the work is lost in translation.

As a work, the material is definitely distinct from all the rest in its use of watercolors (digital or otherwise), instead of the usual pen-and-ink. Whenever possible the story is given through the art, and such incredibly haunting art it is without being horrific or gothic. The author is not afraid to utilize nudity when necessary, but does this with an appreciation for the body, not for the shock factor. It tends to use whole pages for panels, to incredible effect.

I also appreciated this take on the local aswang, in contrast to all the aswang tropes we’ve been fed all these years (a cross between the western witch and the western vampire).

The pacing of the work is deliberately slow, as it is presented as autobiographical, and yet you can’t help but keep flipping pages/clicking for new pages, as soon as you take in and savor the awesomeness of each page and panel. It takes its time with the character development, and it does not matter if it’s deliberate and slow, you relish each moment.

Totally, after Elmer this is the work that deserves international success, so point your friends to Flipreads/Amazon/iTunes and/or the free Tagalog version.

Puso Negro (james palabon) [section six comics] December 23, 2011

Well, this is one of those releases that stand out simply because it’s not as derivative in its style and content as the others, even if it does take from indie-type comics.

The comic contains four chapters presenting days in the life of Puso W. Alabang and his friends/neighbors. Unfortunately for the people around him, in true urban-Manila style our protagonist says what he wants to say, no matter who gets harmed or hit. The comic is full of that snarky in-your-face comedy some of our countrymen are well known for, and the author is properly immersed in that culture.

As mentioned the art style is as snarky as its content, deriving more from a rock and indie culture more than anything else. Thus it’s half-cartoony, half appropriately detailed, all distinct and all angas. The presentation of the booklet is impressive in its glossy-paper cover and offset printing.

Overall it will work really well for a particular kind of komiks fan, and may not go as well with others. But no one can deny that it’s one-of-a-kind and stands out.

The Monkey and the Turtle, Director’s Cut (wilvic/arjin) [salimpusa] December 23, 2011

I think this is one of the other attempts for the Komikon Comic Creation contest, which is an adaptation of “Si Pagong at si Matsing”, that famous Jose Rizal retelling of a fable.

This is quite the in-turns cute and crazy, and totally current-Pinoy rendition of the story, complete with a turtle going “Rock on!” waiting for an iPhone 5, and going “Okay sa olrayt!”. I also liked it that the turtle is not all-that nice in this characterization. Renditions of the monkeys and the turtle are all cute and full of personality.

The distinct art style present in Ibalong is also here, which is characterized by a nice digital inking technique, clean paneling, and good typesetting. The dialogue is better balanced in this one, so the amount of storytelling is evened out between the dialogue and the illustrations.

It’s clean, pro-grade, cute and funny. This komik team can only improve even more.

Ibalong: Lupain ng mga Hiwaga (argin lerit) [salimpusa] December 23, 2011

The comic was made as an entry for the Summer Komikon and then sold as an indie in the November Komikon. The story is a retelling of the Ibalong, an epic legend. Handyong, leader of a tribe, takes it on himself to face the Oryol one-on-one, after the creature defeated too many of his warriors. But he finds out that the Oryol is not your typical muscle-bound humongous beast of a creature, and requires different tactics.

The art is really likable, clean, well-inked digitally, and original to the author even when it takes from the manga style. However I did find that the comic relied too much on its script, such that too much is said in the speech balloons, to make the story finish in the 12-page limit of the Komikon Comic Creation contest. The comic does not appear cramped by it, but because of this the dense-ness of the speech balloons get emphasized. The pro-grade paneling, presentation, and printing is also much appreciated.

Handyong as presented here is a nice enough guy, which is good to see. That is, he’s presented as cute, capable, a gentleman, and not just a muscle-bound leader hunk. When Oryol is presented, she too is not an all-bad baddie, and that too is appreciated.

Overall it’s a good piece that did its job well in the 12-page allotment, even if it was rather cramped by it.

Neox (limosinero/bulda) December 23, 2011

I’m probably the wrong audience for this comic, it’s that kiddie. But it’s quite likeable, and I’m rather glad I bought it.

Neox is one of several kids who can shift into mechanized personas, and thus help to keep the peace in a scifi world. But understandably, a lot of their enemies are a LOT larger than themselves, putting them into a severe disadvantage. One of them is the baddie presented in this first issue, Darkpause.

The art style and presentation is a cross between Dragonball and Tetsuwan Atom (Astroboy) with a dash of maybe Transformers and Megaman and Pokemon, which is appropriate seeing that it’s targeting a younger audience than the usual Komikon audience. The contrasting helmets between the three characters is appreciated. The paneling is simple that brings it points across. The illustration and inking is clean in its kiddie-ness, yet sufficiently detailed with its mecha, which is good to see.

This one also my usual pet peeve of a character page at the back, giving information that should be included in the material instead (maybe in future issues, granted, but within the material).

One thing I appreciated is how they ended this issue…[spoiler]…without a clean win. It makes the characters vulnerable, and thus interesting that I want to find out more. I know it’s also quite the trope, but it’s done well here.

It’s highly possible I won’t go on to read more of this, because honestly I’m not the best audience for it. Yet I can safely plug this on mecha fans and younger komiks fans. It’s interesting with interesting characters, and it’s worth the follow.

Stick-Boy (carlo valenzuela) December 23, 2011

The stand-alone story by the author best known for the Boy Bakal series, and apparently one of the contenders during HeroTV’s comic contest.

And it’s quite understandable why the voting kids would like this so much. Bryan is a super-thin boy who decides, against all odds and against all bullying, that he WILL be a superhero, named Stick-Boy. Suddenly he does get a chance to prove himself, and prove himself he does.

The art is, well, elementary to high-school-grade but sufficiently competent and cute. The pacing is quite good, proving that some of this kiddie-ness is probably intentional. Finally, you can’t help but be drawn in by the little character that could, his niceness mixed with his try-my-best attitude.

The entire comic itself actually makes the statement which is the theme of the story, in the way it is unpretentious and unapologetic about its simplicity, but delivers the story the way he wants to tell it. For this reader, and for many others, it worked.

Lightbox Universe issue 0 [lightbox comics] December 23, 2011

The comic team presents two stories, both in full color.

Orbit: Children of the Quanta – Lance (uy/santisas/torrevillas) — Quickly introduced over 6 pages are four young people with special powers, helping to rescue a boy suspected to be one of them.

Enough of the story is given to make us interested in the characters and their background. Introducing us to four key characters and differentiating their personalities within 6 pages is quite the feat. But not enough of the story is given to be understandable or make us care. Which is to say, I wish there were more pages before the first chapter stopped, so they could draw us in better.

Frontman: Leaving the Party Early (macam/balondo/hipol) — Elias Twine is an Elysium Bard but for the current century, meaning he can control music, and the way he does it is by modifying his playlist to suit his needs. An organization composed of wizards and such fantasy-type heroes keeps trying to recruit him, but he has other plans.

In contrast to the first story, too much information is occasionally crammed into speech bubbles, such as the protagonist’s backstory about his father. But in general the balance between the illustrations and the dialogue is good. The paneling is also a little cramped but organized well. Similar to the first story, not enough investment into the character or his problems is derived to make me want to keep on knowing more, although I am indeed interested.

The paneling and the art styles clearly derive themselves from American comics, but both are illustrated and executed very well, both in the core art and in the digital coloring. The packaging with glossy paper is quite impressive. The fact that the entire release is in color is also very impressive (very good book color printing is very good). The front cover is unrelated to the inside content, which is not very helpful in drawing people in, unfortunately.

Overall it’s a very good start, although I wish more pages for story development was given to both tales.

Marco’s Delivery Service (john carreon) [ravencage studios] December 23, 2011

I got this one this year thanks to Pao’s favorable words on it, after skipping on it last year.

It’s incredibly stylish in the way Cowboy Bebop is incredibly stylish, take it or leave it. Frank Gibbson and Jim Curtiss (I suspect some guitar references are flying over my head) compose one team under Marco’s Delivery Service, which promises to deliver anything within the galaxy. The one-shot is the tale of one particular messy delivery.

In the way I have misgivings about manga-style komiks without giving something original, this comic veers toward being too American-style for its own good, such that it feels like it’s putting on a show with stereotypical characters.

That said, it is impossible to hate this comic, with its interesting snarky duo, its unique stylistic line art and ‘camera angles’, its great story pacing, its orderly paneling, and its wonderful execution of the action scenes. It’s a really well done piece, all throughout.

So you see, I do like it, I like it a lot, and I’m definitely glad I bought it. I just feel that that the only thing Pinoy about it is the name of the author, and that lack of Pinoy-ness makes me feel somewhat odd. I’m not saying that the characters should be Filipino, oh, no, or that it should be set in this country. My opinion is simply that future releases by the author should probably have more Pinoy flavor to it somehow.

It’s a problem all komikeros have, I suspect, and everyone is finding their own best answers to it. (So am I, in my own way, and I know it’s not easy.)