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Yesterday, All Saints Day, at Mt. Carmel Church I met Spider-Man.
We went there to visit my dad’s grave and attend mass. Brandie and I were eating fishballs at the car park outside when a little boy in a red shirt and baggy green pants approached us. He put on a sad face and begged for money so he could buy some food.
I told him that if he kept watch of our car, I’d give him some money after the mass.
He looked around to check for something and asked if he could have the money now because the other, bigger kids would just get the money from him.
I repeated my offer and said that if he did a good job of protecting our car, I’d give him the money. If our car got stolen, then it meant he didn’t do a good job and I wouldn’t give him any money.
The kid smiled and said (in Filipino), “You know what I’d do if someone stole your car? I’d turn into Spider-Man! And I’d swing from the roof of the church and run after them!” He started to pretend he was shooting web fluid from his palms and swing around. He cart wheeled and tumbled back and forth, showing how’d he stop the car thieves.
After the mass, we saw him standing right behind our car.
“Hey Spider-Man!” I called him. I shook his hand for a job well-done and slipped him the P40 I had palmed. He smiled and ran off to another car that was backing out.
It is nice to know that Spider-Man has been able to cross cultural and language barriers and reach out to the street kids of Manila. On the other hand, it seems like we owe these kids and all the other kids something more. We need to give them new heroes, their own heroes. We owe them the stories that will inspire them to do good— to do GREAT THINGS! We owe them stories that will give them hope, or at the very least, make them smile and laugh and do cartwheels.
Should I consider it a sign or an omen that my encounter with Spider-Boy happened a couple of days before Alamat Comics’ 10th Anniversary?
Tomorrow, November 3, marks a decade of storytelling for a lot of us. We had hopes of releasing a new comic book anthology but the stories and the art work are just beginning to trickle in. God willing, this book will see print in a couple of months.
In the meantime, click on my phlog for a look at some upcoming stories and some of Alamat’s first titles.
Yesterday, All Saints Day, at Mt. Carmel Church I met Spider-Man.
We went there to visit my dad’s grave and attend mass. Brandie and I were eating fishballs at the car park outside when a little boy in a red shirt and baggy green pants approached us. He put on a sad face and begged for money so he could buy some food.
I told him that if he kept watch of our car, I’d give him some money after the mass.
He looked around to check for something and asked if he could have the money now because the other, bigger kids would just get the money from him.
I repeated my offer and said that if he did a good job of protecting our car, I’d give him the money. If our car got stolen, then it meant he didn’t do a good job and I wouldn’t give him any money.
The kid smiled and said (in Filipino), “You know what I’d do if someone stole your car? I’d turn into Spider-Man! And I’d swing from the roof of the church and run after them!” He started to pretend he was shooting web fluid from his palms and swing around. He cart wheeled and tumbled back and forth, showing how’d he stop the car thieves.
After the mass, we saw him standing right behind our car.
“Hey Spider-Man!” I called him. I shook his hand for a job well-done and slipped him the P40 I had palmed. He smiled and ran off to another car that was backing out.
It is nice to know that Spider-Man has been able to cross cultural and language barriers and reach out to the street kids of Manila. On the other hand, it seems like we owe these kids and all the other kids something more. We need to give them new heroes, their own heroes. We owe them the stories that will inspire them to do good— to do GREAT THINGS! We owe them stories that will give them hope, or at the very least, make them smile and laugh and do cartwheels.
Should I consider it a sign or an omen that my encounter with Spider-Boy happened a couple of days before Alamat Comics’ 10th Anniversary?
Tomorrow, November 3, marks a decade of storytelling for a lot of us. We had hopes of releasing a new comic book anthology but the stories and the art work are just beginning to trickle in. God willing, this book will see print in a couple of months.
In the meantime, click on my phlog for a look at some upcoming stories and some of Alamat’s first titles.
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