Another one of my indy US projects has finally seen a release, this one coming from ULTIMATE COMICS GROUP, LLC. I've drawn a short story detailing the origin of one of their superheroes named ESSENCE. It's part of STORMBLAZER #0. The solicitation reads...

Stormblazer Issue 0
This Fantastic ORIGIN issue contains 23 whopping story pages and includes the origins of Stormblazer, Essence AND Ultimate. Find out the history behind your favorite UCG characters.
Cover Art: Rod Jacobsen,
Written by: John Lai,
Art: Charles Wright, Lewis Smith, Reno Maniquis & Russell Walton,
Inks by: Lewis Smith, Timothy Gula, Reno Maniquis & Russell Walton,
Colors by: Isai Leal, Terrence Paris Kirton, John Lai & Shaun (Gaspode) Lewis

Samples of some of the pages I did...





You can purchase the comic online here.

I was browsing the 'net when I came upon this particular image...



Looks kinda familiar...



The artist of the top piece is Rodel Tapaya. this was made for a children's book entitled ANG BATANG MARAMING BAWAL from CANVAS.

I really don't mind the swipe. Lord knows I've done my fair share of that, too. I just decided to post it here because I found it amusing.

The book is actually pretty good, both story and illustrations. I think I'll be hunting this one down so I can read it to Jade.

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD


The ultimate team-up... Jade and one of her favorite superheroes, the Flash!

DWAYNE JOHNSON (aka "THE ROCK")as BLACK ADAM!?!?! How cool is that?!?!?



Now all they need to do is cast Dean Cain as the Big Red Cheese himself and I'll be happy.

On a related note... JEFF HARDY is INSANE. See below...

RAW 14.Jan.2008 Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton
Uploaded by Ricardo109

I don't think I've posted this piece before...



I was originally supposed to illustrate a KID CONTINUUM story for a PROJECT HERO sequel from Vin Simbulan and friends, but the project (no pun intended) didn't push through. Thank God I only did the mock cover page (hehe)!

Kid Continuum can be seen regularly in the pages of K-Zone (whose blog is, coincidentally, also titled Ka-Blog!). The series is brought to life by it's co-creators, the aforementioned Vin Simbulan and the always brilliant Andrew Drilon.

Well, K-Zone? How's that for free plugging? Send me some freebies! I'm looking at you, Koko! :)

I've just realized, with the previous piece I've posted and this one, it's done in a style that I don't usually do, with not much of the rendering and brushstrokes inherent in my work. It's also a slightly "cartoonier" style. Which style do you guys prefer? Yeah, I'm referring to the two of you who actually visit this blog. :P

Project Rooftop is one of the coolest art websites I've seen in a while. Basically, anyone can send in superhero costume redesigns and a panel of reviewers judge which ones are worthy to be put up on the site.

They've had their second Halloween costume contest, and I liked 2007's batch better than the last one. I've especially liked the grand prize winner's Supergirl costume and her partner's street-smart Batgirl costume. So I've done a bit of a quick sketch of them in action...



And you can see their actual costumes here.

Remember the pencils-to-ink page I posted before? Well, I'm glad to announce that it will be part of 803 Studios' Sequential Suicide anthology this 2008. I'll be posting further announcements on where and when the book can be purchased.



Oh, and I've also contributed to another anthology, Twenty To Six Books' THE HIEROGRAPH Volume 1. Also available here from lulu.com.

That's all the plugs I have for now. Back to work!

CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER, 2007...

KUKI: It's Papa God's birthday today, Jade.
RENO: That's right. It's the birthday of Jesus.
JADE: Why he's not here?
KUKI & RENO: We don't know.
JADE: Maybe he's cleaning pa his wounds.

(Kuki and Reno both smile silently...)

JADE: Let's sing Happy Birthday for Him.

And so we did. So to our Lord Jesus, Happy Birthday!

And to everyone, Merry Christmas!

No Komikon aftermath post for me! Yep, I don't have anything to say about the Komikon that hasn't been said anywhere else. I'd just like to say that I enjoyed it the third time around, got some really nice indie reading materials (Heubert Khan Michael's UNSTOPPABLE on the top of that list), got to meet some people I've waited a long time to meet (I'm looking at you, Gio!) and got some nice complimentary stuff (thanks, Gerry, for ELMER #3, and Ed, for KADILIMAN, to mention a few). Thank you, too, to Budjette Tan and the Alamat guys (and gals) and to my bro for sticking around to help me at my table.

Sorry if my thoughts are a bit of a jumble. I just had a two-day bout with the flu and I'm not sure if I'm at 100% yet. I think I'll take a nap now.

GAH! I've been so busy lately that KOMIKON 2007 has closed in on me, and I just finished everything I needed to do for that event in the nick of time (I hope).

KOMIKON will be held at the UP Bahay ng Alumni, this Saturday, November 17, 2007. I think the doors will be open by 10:00am.

So... let me pimp a couple of things that will be available from my end...



The fifth issue of TABLOID KOMIKS will be available. It should have been available since the start of this year (and if you look closely at the image above, it clearly states January 2007), but I haven't had the time or means to distribute it properly. Oh, and sadly, it won't be free anymore. But I hope you guys still buy it, since it's reasonably priced at PhP10.00. It's got a great story by Josel Nicolas, illustrated by Ian Iranda (my brother, that's just his pen name, in case you were wondering about the last name). Also, a Maskarado short story by partners-in-crime Dodo Dayao and Bong Leal, and a thought-provoking piece by Randy Valiente.



Also, MASKARADO: VISIONS, the portfolio/comic celebrating 15 years of Maskarado will also be available. The cover above was done by Kajo Baldisimo. It's jam-packed with art by Leinil Yu, Hal Santiago, Gerry Alanguilan, Gilbert Monsanto, Edgar Tadeo, Dell Barras and a whole lot more! Plus a 7-page story by Gio Paredes and myself, and a short prose piece written by Budjette Tan. All for the measly price of PhP30.00! What a bargain, eh?

I'll be sharing a table with Alamat Comics. Stop by and say hi to us! :)