'VERSE UPDATE 2020 (2)

Aaaaaaand here we go!

Two new releases and a good mix of previously released issues, some of which are being made available to order online for the first time:

DAKILA: Siyudad Issue 1 (of 4)
David Hontiveros / Pyotr Mutuc
B&W / Wraparound cover / 24 pages / 5.5 x 8.5 inches / 100 pesos
 
The oikoumene is the physical plane we all live in.
But just beyond the Veil, there’s the Darkside, the diabul, where creatures from folklore and myth, entities divine and infernal, creatures undead and spectral, reside.
And Dakila’s about to enter the diabul--on Halloween, of all nights--to help young Maleck de los Santos with a personal quest.
What could go wrong?

DAKILA: Siyudad Issue 2 (of 4) [New Release]
David Hontiveros / Pyotr Mutuc
B&W / Wraparound cover / 24 pages / 6.5 x 10 inches / 160 pesos
 
Where Makati stands today used to be a swamp, a long time ago.
In the diabul, something’s about to rise from that swamp…
And it isn’t in a very good mood…

KADASIG: Walanghanggan Issue 1 (of 3) [New Release]
David Hontiveros / Romnick Magbanua
B&W / Colored cover / 36 pages / 6.5 x 10 inches / 230 pesos
 
There is a sentient horror movie, a diabolic film that constantly hungers to completely draw its audience into its narrative.
Literally.
And Kadasig is about to become its star attraction…

MASKARADO / DAKILA: Silver Like Dust
David Hontiveros / Reno Maniquis
B&W / Full color cardstock cover / 28 pages / 5.5 x 8.5 inches / 200 pesos
 
Maskarado: “Manila’s Masked Marvel.”
Dakila: his world’s “cosmic champion.”
These two heroes from different dimensions are about to face an enemy driven by madness and greed.
An enemy who wants all the power in the world for himself.
Including theirs.
 
And, for Brandon Ramirez, all the skintight spandex craziness starts here, in the 3-issue introductory arc…
 
DAKILA: Kapalaran

Issue 1
David Hontiveros / Bibo Reyes
B&W / Full color cover / 24 pages / 5.5 x 8.5 inches / 130 pesos
 
In which Dakila meets some corporate angels and the Devil…

Issue 2
David Hontiveros / Romnick Magbanua
B&W / 44 pages / 5.5 x 8.5 inches / 160 pesos
 
In which Dakila gets some training, we find out what’s up with his MIA mom, we discover which trusted ally is lying straight to his face, and the Devil does SPOILER!

Issue 3
David Hontiveros / Enel Lawrence Villegas
B&W / 32 pages / 6.5 x 10 inches / 190 pesos
 
In which we witness some cosplay, and Brandon’s official public debut as a superhero.
 
So there we go.
 
Please click on over to the Indies section of the Avenida website for more details (and preview pages), and, you know, to do the ordering…
 
Meanwhile, please stay safe and sane, people!

you can't drink just six,

Dave

2018 NOVEMBER KOMIKON POST-KON POST

Another November Komikon in the rearview mirror, and, for all you mighty fine folk who dropped by on Day 1, let me extend my thanx for your support.
I hope you enjoy your comic purchases and freebies.

And for all you mighty fine folk who passed by on Day 2 to find me MIA, I extend my sincerest apologies.
I am so, so, SO sorry I wasn't in attendance on Day 2.
I'll spare you the details, but I had a fall Saturday night after NovKon Day 1 wrapped up, so my left knee and foot got banged up and swollen, so I couldn't attend Day 2, as much as I really wanted to.
I'm still recovering and need to ensure that all the injuries are healing properly, so I also need to keep this short.

Once again, SO sorry to anyone who passed by on Day 2.
Rest assured, I fully intend to resume all the discounts and freebies at the next Komikon (since there are still freebie supplies left over), so we can think of the next Komikon as a delayed NovKon 2018 Day 2...

Also, for any artists who might have dropped by on Day 2 in regards to the ARTIST ALERT, another round of apologies.
You can still email us at verse.comics@gmail.com. (Subject Heading: ARTIST ALERT)
As I've said before, we really would love to hear from you.

Okay, so I'll need to leave it at that for now.
Again, thanx to everyone who dropped by on Day 1, and apologies to everyone who might have dropped by on Day 2.
(Also, HUGE thanx to Nida and the Visprint Crew, particularly for having to deal with my Day 2 absence, and to Ace, who tried, but work got in the way...)

Hope to see all you mighty fine folk at the next Komikon, and please, continue to support local comic book writers and artists!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
NEW 'VERSE TITLES AT FILBAR'S

Firstly, all my mighty fine artist collaborators and I would like to thank all the mighty fine folk who dropped by the table at yesterday’s Summer Kon to pick up some comics (and some SEROKS from the Visprint table) and to have stuff signed and to exchange some encouraging and heartening words of support.

To all of you, our heartfelt gratitude…

For any of you who weren’t able to drop by the Bayanihan Center yesterday though, these new ‘Verse titles should be available at Filbar’s (Megamall and Festival Mall branches, I believe) soon…

DAKILA: Buwan

Issue 1 (of 3)

By David Hontiveros and Jason Confesor

18-year old Brandon Ramirez has been a superhero for almost 3 months now, and as if things weren’t complicated enough, he’s gone and fallen in love… with a lunar princess… who’s got a jealous childhood friend who happens to be a demon-werewolf hybrid, and who’s just decided to turn up the crazy in time for a really important dinner date!

Dakila. 18 years old. Cosmic champion.

All of a sudden, acne and getting a driver’s license are so not a big deal.

URIEL: Hekhalot

Issue 2B (of 4)

By David Hontiveros and Michael Urbano

Uriel is a mighty arel, held in reverence and awe by his fellow arelim, feared and despised by the shedim hordes.

And right now, his fate and existence lies in the hands of his seven-year-old mortal charge, Maleck de los Santos.

Uriel journeys to the diabul in an attempt to find a solution to his current problem: he must now find a way to leave Maleck’s body without harming the boy.

Meanwhile, Maleck’s doctor is sucked into the supernatural goings-on surrounding his young patient…

(URIEL: Hekhalot Issue 2A will also be available at Filbar’s.)

Again, thanx to one and all.

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

QUASI-COROLLARY SEROKS "CONTEST" (aka COMIC BOOK ARTIST SEARCH)

Greetings, Earthlings.

In case you stumbled here apropos of anything that came before, let me just say that if you’ve read my latest Visprint title, SEROKS Iteration 1: Mirror Man, then we’ve kicked off a contest involving character and costume design, and if you’d like to see the details of that, hit up the Visprint Facebook page or refer to the earlier post directly before this one.

If, however, you’re really just here for this particular post, then here it is:

If you happen to be an artist who may be interested in collaborating on a comic book with yours truly, then here’s what I’d like you to do.

Send in a 3 to 5 page comic book sequence based on any scene in any of the stories contained in SEROKS Iteration 1: Mirror Man.

I’ll be looking at not just your art style, but also your storytelling technique, how you utilize the sequential panels and their layout to best execute the scene you’ve chosen.

If you’ve also decided to enter the “Paladin(s) Character Design” contest, then preferably, you should use the character design you’re also submitting, so I can see that costume design in action as well.

The completed pages should be fully inked. You have the option of submitting, heh, Xeroxes of the pages in their pencil form as well, so as to give me a better idea as to both your penciling and inking skills.

I’d also like to see, aside from any superhero action in your pages, some quiet moments as well if possible, so I can gauge not just your fight choreography capabilities, but your ability to capture the drama of the moment as well.

Also note, if you’ve decided to join this Artist Search as well as the “Paladin(s) Character Design” contest, that passing the Artist Search does not instantly constitute a win in the Character Design contest; I may think your art style would be perfect for a comic book while not necessarily being crazy about your costume design. Or, for that matter, vice versa.

So if you’re taking part in both, be prepared for that possibility: that you win in one, but not in the other.

It’s preferred that all entries be submitted in 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches size (regular bond paper size, folded in half, or 1650 X 2550 in Photoshop-speak), or any proportional size thereof.

The Artist Search opens up as soon as this announcement goes online and will run all the way through until shortly before SEROKS Iteration 2: Once in a Lifetime will be released. (Or until we say otherwise. We’ll be making further announcements as that date approaches; come right back to the Iguana for those. And yes, just to confirm, the Artist Search does not have the same deadline as the Character Design Contest, despite the notice at the Visprint Facebook page. Sorry about that.)

At the very least, you’ve got a whole bunch of months before then, so there’s ample time to send us your entries. Note though that I will also be taking into consideration the amount of time it took you to complete the pages; the rate at which you can pencil and ink a page is also a vital consideration should you decide to be the artist on a comic book.

Additionally, I stressed this in the previous Artist Search we conducted, and I’ll say it again here: if you do decide to join the Search, keep in mind that if we do end up collaborating on a comic book, there aren’t any upfront page rates involved for any of the creative team.

No one (including myself) gets paid for the work we’ll be putting into the comic. Any possible profit will come in only from royalties once the comic has been compiled and distributed by a publisher.

Other than that, you’ll be getting co-creator credit for any important characters you may end up designing.

So if you’re joining the Search, join because of your love for the comic medium, because you believe you can make a worthwhile contribution to it, because you feel you can do excellent work and you’d like to get that work out there for people to see.

Another thing that you need to be reasonably sure of before joining the Search is, should you be chosen, that you’ll be able to balance working on a comic book with all the rest of your usual responsibilities (family, work, etc.).

Having the talent and the urge to draw a comic book is well and good, but you also need to make sure you’ll have enough time to devote to the pages.

If you have any questions that I failed to address here, please hit up the Comments section of this blog post and I’ll do my best to answer them there.

While we will be accepting entries throughout the contest period via email (address appears below), we will also be accepting them at this year’s Summer Komikon (April 13 at the Bayanihan Center on Pioneer St).

Just come up to me--you should find me at either the Visprint or Alamat tables--say “Hi,” and submit your entries to me.

If you can’t make it to Summer Kon (or would be too hard-pressed to complete your entries in the time left), then email your submissions to bakemono68@yahoo.co.uk (Subject Heading: ARTIST SEARCH) and you’ll get an email acknowledging receipt of your entry.

Afterwards, you’ll only receive another email should I have further questions regarding a possible comic book collaboration.

(And keep in mind, that’s dot-co-dot-uk, not dot-com, lest your entries end up in someone else’s bewildered and befuddled Inbox.)

Please include the following information: Name; Contact Number (Landline and Mobile); plus any links to online galleries of your art (like a deviantart page, if you’ve got one).

And that’s that.

Best of luck to all the entrants, and for those of you who’ll be dropping by, see you at the Summer Kon!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
KADASIG ONLINE

For those of you who may have missed picking it up at the October Komikon, "A Life Less Ordinary," the first chapter of KADASIG: The Skeleton at the Feast, is now online here.

Enjoy the adventures of our very own flip-flopped a$$kicker on your monitor!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
OCTOBER KOMIKON 2012 TITLES (Follow-Up)

I'd just like to take this opportunity to send out a big "Thanx" to all you mighty fine folk who passed by the Alamat table yesterday to pick up the new titles...

... and for making us run out of copies of Chapter 1 of Kadasig's first volume...

From myself and my mighty fine collaborators, Ace, Ian, and Xerx, we'd like to humbly express our gratitude for all the support and enthusiasm you've shown for our work.

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

IN SEARCH OF:
COMIC BOOK ARTISTS

If you’re a regular to the Iguana, you may have noted that aside from being a film geek, I’m also a comic book geek who happens to be a writer, of, among other things, comic books.
It’s in this capacity that I’m currently in search of the right artist to collaborate with on a comic book that’s in the superhero genre, a title with action and drama, with rock ‘em and sock ‘em, angry punchy bits and weepy, sniffy, talky bits.

If you think you’re the right artist for the job, visit the Cube for more details.

WANTED
(Review)

“I’m finding it hard to care about anything these days. In fact, the only thing I do care about is the fact that I can’t care about anything.
“Seriously, it worries me.”
-- Wesley

“Insanity is wasting your life as a nothing when you have the blood of a killer flowing in your veins. Insanity is being sh!t on, beat down, coasting through life in a miserable existence when you have a caged lion locked inside and the key to release it.”
-- Sloan


Wesley Allan Gibson (James McAvoy) is a sad, pathetic office drone abandoned by his father a mere seven days after he was born. Plagued by panic attacks and his unresolved daddy issues, Wesley sometimes wonders whether his father had in fact thought this mewling week-old infant was “the most insignificant a$hole of the 21st century.”
But all that changes when the lovely but deadly Fox (Angelina Jolie) enters his life, introducing Wesley to the Fraternity, and what appears to be Wesley’s own personal destiny.
Based on the comic book written by Mark Millar, Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted takes the age-old tale of a young man’s journey of discovery as he comes into his own—as he realizes that he is, indeed, special—and turns it on its ear in a rollicking, madcap R-rated actioner.


Now, while I enjoyed the visual bravado Bekmambetov displayed in his previous films Nochnoy dozor (Night Watch) and Dvevnoy dozor (Day Watch), their scripts left much to be desired.
Here though, armed with a script by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan (who, collectively, have worked on everything from Cellular to The Fast and the Furious sequels, to the 3:10 To Yuma remake), Bekmambetov manages to create his most solid work to date, fusing his volatile visual style with a narrative—certainly more coherent and propulsive than those of either of his past works—that explores a young man’s desire to find his proper place in the world, and in so doing, fulfilling every son’s need to step out from his father’s shadow, in order to truly find himself.


And helping Bekmambetov capture the rollicking imagery of this post-Matrix action thriller are the solid work of DP Mitchell Amundsen (who shot Transporter 2, Transformers, and, errr, the Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers 3D concert films) and Oscar-winning editor David Brenner (a frequent collaborator of both Roland Emerich and Oliver Stone; talk about walking both sides of the fence).
Amudsen and Brenner are quite possibly the secret MVPs of Wanted.

“Now I know why I could never care about anything before this. I was living a lie.
“Finally, I have a chance to step into my father’s shoes. Grow a pair. Live the life I was born to live.
“I’ve been pissing it all away like it was another f*cking billing report.
“I have to train harder. I have to be as good as my father.”
-- Wesley


Despite Jolie being the biggest marquee name here, the key performers in Wanted are undoubtedly McAvoy and Morgan Freeman, who plays Sloan, the head of the Fraternity, who deciphers the hidden codes that identify the targets these assassins of Fate need to take down.
While Freeman plays Sloan with his veteran air of articulate self-possession, McAvoy seems to effortlessly nail the transformative arc that Wesley undergoes over the course of the film, from cubicle loser to bullet-bending action hero, informing the character with just the right amount of humour, and nary a trace of his own Scottish accent.


It’s the presence of McAvoy and Freeman, the script’s streaks of wickedly black humour, and the genuine undercurrent of emotion that plays beneath Bekmambetov’s visual bombast, that make Wanted the wild—and ultimately satisfying—cinematic ride that it is.


“We don’t know how far the ripples of our decisions go. Kill one, and maybe, save a thousand. That’s the code of the Fraternity.
“That’s what we believe in, and that’s why we do it.”
-- Fox

(Wanted UK quad courtesy of impawards.com; images courtesy of empireonline.com and premiere.com.)

THE MIDDLEMAN
Season 1 Episode 3
“The Sino-Mexican Revelation”
Teleplay by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Directed by Jeremiah Chechik

Hey, the Sensei Ping they make mention of in the Pilot? It’s Mark Dacascos! With a luchador mask on!
So that’s a neat bit of casting in an episode that was, sadly, not as enjoyable as The Middleman’s first two outings.


There were some pluses, mind.
The nice opening sequence in particular, where we see Wendy’s CrapMobile, a Hruck Bugbear (“the pinnacle of Balkan Cold War engineering”) and get a “Girls On Film” reference.
We also get a glimpse of a Middleman-that-might-have-been, and later on, begin to get a sense of what possible characteristics make for a Middleman candidate.
The promise of those intriguing bits though, doesn’t quite lead to an effective episode.


And it’s not the patently ridiculous plot involving luchadores; that I can get behind 100%. Luchadores are cool.
And the patently fake fight scenes? Like the show’s low-rent CGI, they only serve to heighten The Middleman’s charming B-movie appeal.
It’s the overkill of repetition, whether of characters’ self-descriptive declarations (I hope to be spared of Lacey’s “confrontational, spoken-word performance artist” schtick in subsequent episodes) or descriptions of places of interest (the Booty Chest schtick).
The inexplicable display of various time zones also got old pretty quick in this one.


It saddened me that the mighty monster that is Gree-Joe Marks-Watch wrote this installment. You’d think that the show’s creator would give us the best episodes.
I can only hope that this worked better on the comic book page (due to the teleplay credit, I assume this, like the Pilot, was a script adapted from a particular Middleman comic).
On the small screen, however, it just doesn’t pop.
Even the debut of the MiddleJet didn’t really liven things up.

(Images courtesy of abcfamily.go.com, io9.com, and themiddleblog.livejournal.com.)