Babbling Point

. something old... More stuff from the archives... Uploaded an article by David Hontiveros . His take on the secret origin of Alamat, as well as a "state of the comic book nation" report during 1996. Read it at: http://iguana5legs.blogspot.com/ something new... Filipino comic book artist Darrio Carrasco Jr. got interviewed at THE PULSE about his new comic book "Mask of the Gargoyle"

monkeying around Found another old article, which I re-typed to include in the Komix101 blog . On the Verge Karen Kunawicz Mirror Weekly, March 12, 1998 Budjette Tan is back. And the tables have turned a bit. As President-at-gunpoint for Alamat comics, Budj is used to being interviewed for write-ups in paper, magazines, and TV (I’m just proud to say “On the Verge” was one of the firsts to feature Alamat—that was over three years ago!) Now it’s Budjette who’s writing about a new local comic and graphic literature group called ZENITH GRAPHICS—and I must say he’s written such a fun piece. Mabuhay ang malikot na utak! I meant that in a positive, halfways wholesome sense, OK? Xeroxed Monkeys at the top By Budjette Tan Ever heard of the Hundredth Monkey Effect? No, it’s not some kinky bestiality thing! Supposedly, researches were studying the behavior of monkeys in the island of Koshima, near Japan. Sweet potato is part of the diet of those monkeys. The monkeys somehow learned that if they w...

. National (Comic) Book Store National Book Store, Greenbelt 1 now has a bin filled with P25 comic books and trade paperbacks that range from P150 to P200. I don’t know if they’re got the same type of comic book bin in the other National Book Stores, but if they do, it might just usher in a new batch of comic book writers and artists. Back in the 80s, National had a lot of badly reprinted Marvel and DC Comics. But the great thing was, they brought in a whole bunch of British and European comic magazines and graphic novels. They must have bought it from some wholesale bargain bin, because we ended up with issues of WARRIOR and TRIDENT , which contained the early works of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Neil Gaiman. We were also able to get Mobius graphic novels and some odd numbered, water-damaged issues of AKIRA and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Now that I think about it, National Book Store didn’t offer a single issue of manga. I still have a theory that the reason the 80s kids didn’t get...

POLYSACCHARIDE: The Dollhouse Drama a solo black & white photography exhibit by WAWI NAVARROZA at BLACKSOUP PROJECT ARTSPACE June 11 to July 12 BlackSoup is at Shop 61, Shoe Expo, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. Call them at 439-8838 for more info. See more of Wawi's photography at: http://darkelfmanila.com/Gallery4.htm

. Congratulations Harrison! EMAIL FROM: TEENY GONZALES, Executive Creative Director, Harrison Communications Last night, at the Creative Guild's Ad of the Year Awards, both McCann and Harrison made a fantastic showing. First, for craftsmanship, the BIOGESIC "GRADUATION" PRINT won BEST IN COPY. Then it was followed by McCann's SONY "REINFORCEMENTS" that got the BEST ART DIRECTION and BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARDS. That was just the appetizer. Later, Harrison's PDI CANNES LION PRINT SERIES won the SILVER FOR PRINT CAMPAIGN and for TV, McCann's COKE "BEAT GAME" got the GOLD for TV CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR. Then came the best part. SONY "REINFROCEMENTS" got the SILVER for TV then our very own BIOGESIC was announced PRINT AD OF THE YEAR 2004. Congratulations are in order for the the teams that made the award-winning ads: PDI CANNES LION SERIES RUSS MOLINA - CD SABEL GAMBOA - CD JULY MALANTIC - AD DAN MATUTINA - AD LOU BOGNOT - BUD SINTA ROSAL...

. It's Clobberin' Time! Last Sunday, after lunch, I went back to room and was planning to go to sleep when my cellphone rang. Caller ID told me it was: Moy&Dunds. I answered and Dundee said,"Hey! What you doing?" "Well, I was about to go to sleep and..." "Wait, Tim wants to talk to you." Tim? Their five year old son wanted to talk to me? Tim' s my godson, actually. On the other end, I could hear Moy and Dundee say, "Go ahead! Tell Tito Budj what you told us. Go on!" "Hello? Hi?" said Tim. But before I could say hello, Tim dropped the phone. Liam, their 10-year old son, picked it up. "Hi there!" he greeted me. "Do you have eleven ?" I didn't know how to answer his question. "Number eleven," Liam clarified. "Number eleven of Fantastic Four?" And I immediately realized what he was talking about. During Moy and Dundee's last wedding anniversary, I gave them the complete run of ...

***Press Release*** Neil Gaiman at the Music Museum The British Council is hosting a Writers Forum, PressSession and Autograph-signing with Neil Gaiman at the Music Museum on Monday, July 11 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. sharp. Registration begins at 1:00 p.m.

. Kick-ass advertising! Found this link from THE BEAT about a TV commercial for Kodansha manga . I don't think Marvel or DC Comics has ever done TVCs. I think the only American comic book company that has ever done a TVC was Malibu to promote their Ultraverse super hero line. Then again, DC has done a good job of getting the media to report and talk about so-called controversial storylines, as well as hype up the deaths and returns of their super heroes. There was also a time when DC placed print ads for "Starman" in magazines like Entertainment Weekly. I know someone, somewhere already wrote about this... but I still wonder why DC doesn't place ads for their comic books in teen magazines or shows like "Smallville" and "The O.C." and maybe, just maybe, reach out to a market that's never entered a comic book store. Anyway, you can watch the two TVCs for Kodansha at this site: http://www.kodansha.co.jp/comic/cm/

. Signal No.1 How do you introduce a new superteam? Start your issue with a burning building full of people that need rescuing or have a group of terrorists hold a building hostage. This allows the new superteam to flex their super-powered muscles and show-off how great they are without getting injured or getting their asses kicked by the main villain. The new LEGION recently did this schtick. The JUSTICE LEAGUE during the 80s did the hostage thing. THE YOUNG AVENGERS did the burning building and hostage situation all in one issue. And almost every Alamat book in the late 90s that featured a superteam did the whole hostage situation thing. (God bless us all!) Anyway, this is all a segue to “What is a good example of a first issue of a new super team?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Below is an article I wrote about Warren Ellis’ “Stormwatch”. In 40-pages, Ellis was able to set-up the world of Stormwatch, introduce the new characters, tell you what they’re all about, and well… he did put in ...

FROM: Neil's blog Hi Neil,I just thought you might want to mention to your fans in the Philippines that the bookstore chain that's holding your book signing in July has set up a mailing list where fans can get updates and news about the event. It's at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gaiman_fullybooked/ . Can't wait for you to get here! Cheers,Tania Manila, Philippines I'm looking forward to it as well. (Did you know that there were 1484 visitors to this site from the Philippines last month? Well, that or 2,557, depending on which counter you believe.) Consider it mentioned. Hmmm... so, it is possible that 1,500 to 2,500 will show up at the Gaiman book signing? Oh my!

Killer Interview Now Online James and Pepe, the two kids who thought I was the greatest Philippine animator who sold-out, have gone out on a limb to interview the deadly Kai. It's now online at INQ7. More interviews with comic book characters and comic book creators at: KOMIX101

Ilang Tulog na Lang... ***PRESS RELEASE*** Fully Booked is proud to bring you the award-winning "Sandman" author, Neil Gaiman in Manila from July 9-11! Members of this group will receive updates regarding his schedule of events, book signings, promotions, contests, trivia and other relevant information. Join the mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gaiman_fullybooked/

Man of Mystery This is Mr.Mysteryoso. He's our Dr.Strange/Dr.Fate-analog. He's another member of the Golden Age Justice Corps. Taps came up with the name and Arnold came up with the look. We didn't really know what the heck he did at first. Arvie was the one who came with the idea of the shapeshifting cape. (Art by HAI . See more if Hai's art here .)

Starstruck! I noticed that some people still end up in my blog becuase they Googled "Angel Locsin pics bikini Darna costume". Sorry kids... you don't get to see that here. But as a consolation of sorts, here's a pretty pin-up of Bituin, one of the characters from Batch72. She's our Wonder Woman/Darna-analog. Readers got to see an older, more wrinkled version of her in Batch72 #3 . If you'd like to see the younger, sexier version of Bituin in action, then please find me an artist willing to work on an 80-page story set in the 1940s. Thank you. (BITUIN art by Ian Sta. Maria. You can see more of Ian's art here .)

. Mike... test... mike... test... Story and art by KA-JO

. Day Job "Our day job was advertising. we did some pretty crappy advertising wrok! Neal Adam's Continuity Associates was a real halfway house for all of us; he would give us grunt work and we got, like, ten bucks an hour, and comics became something people did almsot as an avocation." That was a time when people really were in comics for no reason other than love of the medium." -- Frank Miller, from EISNER/MILLER (Dark Horse) Well, it seems like I'm on the right path. I've got the day job, now all I need to do is get the comic book gig. When I got this job I tried my best to still keep busy and active with doing comic books. So, far have been able to published three stories in the past six years. I should consider myself lucky. It's funny-- I now work with three guys who used to do comic books and one guy who used to do children's books. You'd think we'd be able to sneak in some comic book pages during our free time. (Well, Carl worked wit...

. I just had to translate some body copy from Filipino to English and part of it mentioned "Aparri to Sitangkai", which made me wonder "Where the heck is Sitangkai?" So, I Googled the place and found this picture. FROM : http://www.madnomad.com/gregg/rp_03.html Looks like a nice place to visit.

. My Own Private Manhattan Project The other night I dreamnt that I was in the X-Mansion and Prof.X put me in charge of the new X-MEN team. When I entered the Danger Room I was surprised to find The Watchmen waiting for me. The Comedian looked at me from head to foot and then turned away to flirt with the Silk Spectre. As Prof. X wheeled himself out of the Danger Room he said, "Oh yeah, you also have to deal with him." The room was suddenly filled with a bright, blue light and Dr. Manhattan materialized in front of me. Seeing the most powerful member of The Watchmen filled me with great fear-- felt out of place and intimitated. And that's when I woke up. From what I remember, I didn't even have any mutant powers in that dream. I wasn't even in uniform! I think I was wearing a checker polo and jeans. Heck, I wasn't even Cyclops! Weird. Couldn't help but think that was dream was work related.

. In today's paper, there's an ad that tells you there are over 200,000 children living on the streets and that if you want to help you should call this number. On the opposite page, there's an ad that tells you that for only P800 a day, you can own a brand new BMW. The medium is the message and the message is confusing.

. I had a dream last night. In my dream, I had insomnia. So I woke up tired, restless and felt like I didn't sleep. Weird-Vertigo-moment.