Category: comics

catching up

It’s what long weekends are for.

Read:

It’s a Mens World by Bebang Siy 

Ang libro ni Bb. Bebang Siy, na sa di maipaliwanag na dahilan ay may kasamang libreng Cream Silk.

Hindi pa ako tapos, pero ang dami ko nang tawa. Parang baliw matalik na kaibigan lang si Miss Bebang na nagki-kwento sa iyo ng mga kakaibang karanasan niya: noong naunang magka-regla sa kanya ang kanyang nakababatang kapatid (“It’s a Mens World”), noong “kinidnap” siya ng sariling ama (“Ang Lugaw, Bow”), noong akalain ng kanyang mga kamag-anak na nasugatan niya ang pekpek niya (“Hiwa”). Oo, pekpek. Diretsong magkwento si Bebang (o di ba parang close na kami). Walang hiya-hiya. Marami akong naalala habang binabasa ang mga sanaysay niya. Tulad niya, hindi rin kami mayaman. Pero hindi siya nagsusulat ng poverty porn (siguro medyo porn lang hehe). May kaunting muni-muni, kaunting hindsight, pero sa huli, gusto lang niya sabihin sa iyo ang naramdaman nya noong nangyari ang mga pangyayari. Ganun naman yun e; kapag bata ka, hindi mo naman maiisip na kawawa ka. Maiintindihan mo na mahirap kayo, oo, pero masaya ka pa rin. Na para bang lahat e laru-laro lang.

The Long Weekend by Adam David

I read this twice in one sitting. The quiet panels make the heartache and nostalgia hit harder. It’s available on Amazon; I recommend you read it.

Gotham Central

Ed Brubaker. I love him. He’s an amazing crime writer. Here, he features the detectives of Gotham City’s Major Crimes Unit, who absolutely hate the Batman because he keeps interfering with their investigations goddamn it!

The story arcs  and characters are so well-written that they could have killed Batman and I wouldn’t even care.

Saw:

The Bourne Legacy

If you’re avoiding this film because you haven’t seen the three earlier Bourne films, believe me: it’s fine. I watched it for Jeremy Renner and the epic chase sequence across the streets of Manila (and Pasay and Binondo and Marikina…but let’s just say it all happens in Manila), and I was absolutely happy with the flick.

Here’s all you need to know: Jason Bourne and the CIA program that created him has been uncovered by a British journalist. There are now also video evidence in circulation on YouTube. So now the CIA has to shut down the program. Super-spies start dropping like flies. Aaron Cross (Renner), however, is still alive, snowed in and stuck in Alaska. But the enemy is closing in. And yes, from Alaska he ends up in Manila “you can’t drive there” Philippines.

Now sit back, shut up, and enjoy.

Ate:

Burgoo food and Ice Cream at Swensen’s

Jaykie’s doodles in Burgoo.

Bought:

Two dresses and a pair of shoes!

How was your weekend?

weekend news + recommendations

Came home this weekend for my father’s birthday.

I can’t do any writing when I’m at home (too lazy? too comfy?), so I just spend the time on my back watching whatever show’s available, or reading. I recommend:

21 Jump Street

(Shot of goths.)

“These are the goths”

(Shot of nerds.)

“These are nerds.”

(Shot of hipsters.)

“I don’t know what these are.”

The smart nerd and the cool jock from high school end up in the police academy and become best friends. After an arrest gone wrong, they are transferred to 21 Jump Street, where they are assigned to do undercover work as high school students. Based on the series starring Johnny Depp. I don’t know how this film adaptation compares to the series, but this wins plus points for me for all the action film meta-jokes and the film’s acute awareness that the high school of ten years ago is very much different from the high school of today.

Take Shelter

Curtis lives with his wife and hearing impaired daughter in the Ohio countryside frequented by storms and tornadoes. He starts having nightmares about rain that looks like motor oil, birds flying in strange formations, and his dog and neighbors attacking him and his child. The nightmares start bleeding into his days. He has a history of mental illness, so fearing he is developing schizophrenia, he reads books, sees his mother, and talks to a counselor at the free clinic. But he also takes out a risky loan and starts repairing their tornado shelter, to the anguish of his wife. Is Curtis insane, or a prophet of dire days to come? This film is highly recommended. (And Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain should have received Oscar nominations for this! What the hell?)

Shawshank Redemption

This is a rewatch. If you haven’t seen it – what is the matter with you? This is one beautiful story that stands the test of time. It’s still as good as ever.

Different Seasons by Stephen King

Contains four short novels, three of which were adapted into films (Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil, Stand by Me). All four stories are absorbing reads.

ALL OF THE BATMAN

I am particularly interested in the Dick Grayson storyline within the Batman universe. My only exposure to the first Robin is through the films (all meh) and the brilliant animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Robin. Recos? I already have Robin: Year One, but I have read Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller! Brilliant!), and a bit of the All-Star Batman and Robin series. (Frank Miller! What the fuck is this shit?)

Went back to the metro on Sunday and played with J’s cute nephew.

Well? What have you been up to? :)

So I’ve resigned from the “new job” and will soon be employed as a writer here. I don’t know why I keep updating you about my work situation. Perhaps also to remind myself. Why did I resign? Let us meet up for coffee and I’ll tell you. But the quick summary: It was a fun place to work, but I didn’t have the stamina.

*

In the meantime I’m at home trying to get my shit together. Step 1 of getting my shit together was applying for an NBI Clearance, which I did yesterday. An entire lifetime could be lived during an NBI Clearance application. I was told to go to Robinsons Otis because it was reportedly faster, but I was going to meet up with Eula anyway so I chose to go to Robinsons Galleria. If you’re planning to line up there, for the love of all that is holy, be there early. And by early I mean earlier than 5:30 a.m., because I was there before the sun even rose and I was number 364. Can you believe that? What time did people start arriving, 3 a.m? The NBI satellite centers process only 500 applications a day. (NBI Main processes 2,000.) Number 500 was handed out at Galleria yesterday before 7 a.m. Yep. So. Be there early.

They allowed numbers 201 to 399 to come in at 10 a.m., and numbers 400 onwards at 12 noon. Bring a book, an mp3 player, a friend to chat with. And food. And patience. And remember: 2 valid IDs, P115.

I finished the application at 5:30 p.m. And was told that I got a “hit” and could only get my clearance on Feb. 8. Feb. 8! I was too tired to feel angry at that point, so I just got on a bus and went home.

Check out the NBI website to find out where else you can go to get clearance.

Also, NBI? There has got to be an easier way to secure clearance. I mean, come on, man, I pay my taxes. I don’t pay my taxes just so I can sit inside a mall for 12 hours waiting for a lousy piece of paper.

I imagine my younger siblings lining up for this for employment and I die a little inside.

*

Anywho, recommendations!

Lucifer – In Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Lucifer Morningstar throws up his hands and says, “I give up!”, and hands the keys to Dream. Hell is Dream’s problem now, and good riddance. In The Kindly Ones we find him running a piano bar. But what are the other plans of the former Lord of Hell? Author Mike Carey tells us. And what a series! High concepts! I love this.

Room – Jack and Ma live in Room. It’s a very small room. Look. Five-year-old Jack believes Room is the world, and everything else (the shows on TV, the stories in their books) is fantasy. Old Nick brings them food and clothes and takes their garbage away. Jack has to stay in Wardrobe when Old Nick visits Ma at night. One day, Jack watches TV and sees a man taking the same painkillers her Ma keeps in a bottle. But how is that possible? How can the painkillers in Room appear in TV, which isn’t real?

At that point I felt real terror, and that’s when I knew what a gripping tale this is. Of course if you follow the news you’d know what the novel is based on. The knowledge doesn’t diminish the story’s power. Do check it out. I read it in two days.

Sherlock – And the most adorable picture ever.

That’s it, pancit!

preacher

Jesse Custer, a preacher from a small town in Texas, is possessed by a powerful supernatural being named “Genesis”. The force of the possession hits his church like a nuclear bomb, and the members of his congregation are reduced to bones. Jesse, however, leaves the site unscathed, and with the new ability to command anyone with only his words. Witnesses call this the “Word of God”.

Jesse later learns that Genesis is the offspring of an angel and a demon, a creation of Heaven and Hell, and on its birth God left His throne and quit. Genesis is a being of pure power, perhaps even as powerful as God Himself, and Jesse wants to know what it wants, what it knows, and why God seems frightened of it.

This series is a perverted, hyperviolent mindfuck, and I loved it. There’s a point when I got tired of Jesse’s hard-on for Texas and his long speeches about the great American nation, and I was bored by the Salvation story arc, but I read every page. I love how Ennis and Co. just went for it. No fear, no holding back. With such big concepts and such a complicated set-up, I was worried the series would end on a disappointing note, but you know what? It ended the way it should have ended. It ended right.

I think its brilliant.

post-pedring, etc

Really bad storm yesterday. J and I were in his parked car around lunch and we felt the car rock as the wind slammed against us. Didn’t go to work, couldn’t. (Office work was suspended anyway, but I heard some office mates had continued with their shoots like a bunch of crazy people.) No electricity. Cell phone dying by midday. Back in Bulacan, my parents had to deal with the chest-high flood outside the house and the waist-high water inside and the fact that our refrigerator was submerged. I could replace the refrigerator, but I heard the frustration and the exhaustion made my father cry and that really broke my heart. So fuck you, Pedring. Fuck you very much.

*

But today’s another day. (My parents said pretty much the same thing.) So yes – I have a poem in the fifth volume of Stone Telling called “Prayer“. Read and share, if you are so inclined. Lots of fantastic authors here.

And I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately! I’ve finished two memoirs. In Pyongyang, Guy Delisle talks about his stay in the North Korean capital with equal snark and sadness. For such a dark topic, Delisle actually manages to keep the tone light till the last page. There is a degree of outrage, but it is dampened with humor. I guess it’s a defense mechanism – if he allowed himself  to be affected by the apparent brainwashing and injustice going on around him, he’d go insane. (Hell, I would.) Or end up dead. (He did bring a copy of Orwell’s 1984 to his hotel, and even had the audacity to lend it to his North Korean guide. Ha!)

Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home is a brave introspection of her relationship with her father, his life and his death, and how his secrets had affected her family. And oh, what beautiful, vivid language to go with the art!


Some (ongoing) series that I would recommend:

Chew – Set in a post-bird flu world, where chicken and other bird meat are declared illegal,  and the Food and Drug Administration is kick-ass and the Department of Agriculture has sexy covert operatives. (I know, right?!) Tony Chu, a police officer, gets hired by the FDA after a chicken buy-bust operation. He is a cibopath, a person who gets information about the origins and circumstances of everything he eats. (Except beets. He gets nothing from beets.) He uses this ability to solve crimes, so yeah, sometimes he has to eat a severed limb. Or worse.

The Unwritten – A story about stories! That is all I’m going to say! Very engrossing.

Runaways – Set in a world where superheroes and villains are a regular occurrence. (Especially  New York.) A group of teenagers discover that their parents are members of a crime ring called The Pride. I think the quality is inconsistent – the series kept changing writers and illustrators – but I guess I’ll keep reading. I’ve heard this series is on hiatus.

Bone – Premium kids’ literature right here. Funny and exciting and I can’t wait to read the entire series.

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How much does a good refrigerator go for these days?

long weekend

I have to say that in the four years I’ve been a member of the workforce, this is the first time I’ve experienced a long weekend due to the holidays. Sweet deal, except that a storm came. This always happens. I plan to see my parents on a particular weekend, and a storm makes landfall. Every. Single. Time.

I had to wade through knee-high waters to get home. But despite the storm and the flood, our pet chicken is alive and well! And she’s been giving us eggs! On Monday night my mother added them to the giniling! The eggs were yummy! I don’t know why I keep telling you about this fucking chicken but this is exciting!

Anyway. Flood. Nothing new here.

The bright side: 1) no work 2) it’s cold inside the house as opposed to hellishly hot 3) I was able to just relax and read and watch movies.

Ex Machina is created by Brian K. Vaughan (the same guy who wrote Y: The Last Man) and Tony Harris. I finished reading all of the issues early this morning (around 1 am) and I’m still thinking about it today. Ex Machina features Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer who receives powers from an unknown device that exploded at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The device gives him the power to talk to machines. After becoming a victim of a robbery, he decides to fight crime as The Great Machine, sort of like the goofy equivalent of the Iron Man. On 9/11 he stops one of the planes, allowing the second tower to survive the attack. Later on, he is voted Mayor of New York.

Vaughan loves devastating endings, doesn’t he? He gives you humor and hope until you start thinking that hey, maybe a happy ending is possible for these poor characters, then boom, a sudden dip until everything crashes. And I love it. I am devastated right now, but I love it.

I saw too many movies! Info overload!

Drive Angry is one of those redneck-y action films that I thought I’d hate but I end up loving. It’s a fun ride. (Pun!) Favorite character: William Fichtner as The Accountant.

Saw a lot of comedies: Hall Pass, No Strings Attached, Bad Teacher. All perfect for lazy afternoons. Go with No Strings Attached, if you just want something cute.

The Beaver. Huh. I have to say that when I saw the movie poster, I was confused

and the title made me laugh, but this is directed by Jodie Foster and I still somehow trust Jodie Foster (even if Mel Gibson is in the lead). I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve never seen depression and mental illness presented in such a simple, effective, disturbing way. BUT: wouldn’t this work better if it were less serious? More black humor than drama, with maybe Steve Carrell as the lead? Guess we’ll never know.

My brothers did not like Super 8, and I think I understand why. Super 8 as an adventure, as a coming-of-age tale, is adorable and pitch-perfect, but as a mystery monster movie, it’s 90 minutes of meh.

 

But I liked it. For some reason it reminded me of Eerie Indiana. (I miss that show.)

So how’s your long weekend?

the walking dead (comics)

I saw the TV series first and loved it, but having read the 87 issues (so far) of the original comic, I now fully understand why it got so big. Robert Kirkman has the (sometimes exasperating) tendency of filling panels with walls of text, but even then the series is a very compelling read. It’s definitely more violent than the TV series. I breezed through the 80+ issues because I couldn’t stop. I just had to find out what happens next.

Now I’m excited to see how the rest of the series will be translated to TV. Bet it’s going to be a pain.

The Mighty Reading List!

Feast for Crows

The Kobayashi Maru of Love

Showbiz Lengua

PGS Horror issue

Floating Dragon

El Bimbo Variations

The Tesseract

Faithful Place

Moxyland

Zoo City

Our Story Begins

Glass Soup

Here on Earth

The Pull of the Moon

Little Bee

Story Quarterly Issue 44

The Bell Jar

Philippine Speculative Fiction 6

Pacific Rims

The Name of the Wind

The Wise Man’s Fear

Pretty Monsters

A Dance with Dragons

Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan