Here are some pics of my niece, Kristine Angela Tolentino, also known as Kitten or Kit to her friends and family...





Why am I posting these? Well, I just wanted to embarrass her. Hehe.

Remember my post about the death of Martian Manhunter?

Well, after reading FINAL CRISIS: REQUIEM, I have to thank Peter Tomasi, Doug Mahnke and Chritstian Alamy & Rodney Ramos for giving back some dignity to J'onn. The last page with Batman placing an Oreo on J'onn's coffin had me all choked up. I remember reading an old JLI issue where Batman, being the loner that he is, really considers J'onn to be among his closest friends. In that particular issue, he even smiled when J'onn appeared to help him on a case. I guess so many comic fans became familiar with the Martian Manhunter during the JLI days, and it also showed a more "human" side to him.



I have this theory, though. J'onn's funeral was on Mars. And, Grant Morrison, who first wrote about his death, was the grand architect of the miniseries DC ONE MILLION some years back. And I remember J'onn being alive in the year one million, he had merged with the planet Mars itself. If ever there were plans to resurrect J'onn, I can see this becoming a very plausible explanation for his return.

Anyway, for all J'onn J'onzz fans out there, pick up FINAL CRISIS: REQUIEM. It's a good enough sendoff to one of the big 7 of the Justice League.

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Thanks to Budjette, here's Invincible Iron Man writer Matt Fraction's reaction to comments about the Triumph Division...

(Taken from the Jinxworld Forums)

SPOILERS, for people that haven't read the issue,and might want to avoid a small spoiler for IIM #4:

Respectfully, I disagree. It wasn't poorly researched; I promise-- but it was written for a predominantly American comics audience, which resulted in me making some choices for ease-of-reading rather than absolute cultural accuracy. I made that call because I felt if I had to explain and contextualize things for every reader, it would've slowed the story to a halt. Were I writing a Filipino team for a Filipino audience it would have been different.

I know Mongoose aren't indiginous to the Philippines, but they ARE there, and had i time and space to talk about the character, I would've and i think it would've made sense (it's a reference to his kung fu fighting style, but how do you casually bring that up at a ceremony like that?). St. George I disagree with-- as a judeo-christian and catholic icon, I think that's an appropropriate name, especially for the religious makeup of the country.

And as I said elsewhere upthread, I'm introducing the team twice-- read the whole story before you condemn me for creating a team just to kill them off.

I know there's been issue with the use of the faux-Buddhist/Krishna-ish monks in the scene, but as the Philippines is mostly Roman-Catholic, I wanted to pick a visual signifier for a religion and a religous group and its practitioners that, in both countries (the US and the Philippines), indicated a signifigantly small minority. To dress the bombers in a way that immediately suggested a devout religious group, and a somewhat.... not necessarily mysterious, but an exotic one. they were SUPPOSED to a startling and rare group of people, which is exactly what they were.

(this issue saw the first real editorial content note I've ever received: in the inital drafts of the script, the monks were children. the bombers were supposed to be nearly a-religious...)

I talked to a couple Pinoy friends, both here and in the Philippines (at one point even toyed with doing the whole scene in Tagalog) about the characters and the scene and felt comfortable with the way it ran. The mongoose was the one issue that came up and it was one that I chose to make (ultimately, it's a name, and just struck me as-- well, a name. Is "Green Lantern" too American a name? Etc. etc.). The rest I'd argue with similar to how I have here on the basis factual or artistic decisions.

-------------------------------------------------------------

What I have to say...

If that's the intent for the monks, well, okay. But the intent wasn't clear in the comic itself, and it doesn't have to be explained in an online forum so that Pinoy readers would "get" it, right? For me, the monks still seemed out of place.

As for the heroes not being "Filipin-ized," I really don't have a problem with that. I don't know why some folks insist that Pinoy superheroes should have a Pinoy flavor in their names or appearances. Is Captain Barbell a Pinoy name? Nope. Likewise, is Batman an American-sounding name? Not really.

Anyway... Immortal Iron Fist ROCKS. Hey, that got me to thinking... are the Chinese cultural references there accurate? Just wondering...

The death of J'onn J'onzz... what a waste, eh?

Anyone who's read Final Crisis will know what I'm talking about. Here's a scan of the death scene...



Man, such an ignoble way to die. Hunted down and slaughtered just like that. Who'd have thought it would be so easy?

Wait a minute... it shouldn't be so easy. since Martian Manhunter is almost at the same power class as Superman, and has been at the hero game since the 1950s. You'd think he would have been in worse situations than that.

But no... his death was shameful. No self-sacrificing death. No heroic demise. Just plain pffffffffttt. Heck, even C-list GL Corpsman Arkis Chummuck died saving his fellow Green Lanterns.

I'll just comfort myself in the fact that it was a Skrull impersonator who died. Really, have you seen the chin J'onn was sporting before his death?

So, Mr. Michael Netzer, I hope DC takes you up on your offer after Final Crisis is done.

Ooookaayyy... can someone explain this to me?

In the latest issue of Invincible Iron Man (#2, to be exact), a super-team from the Philippines is introduced called the Triumph Division...



A bunch of cool-looking heroes, right? What's got me confused is this...



What the heck are Buddhist monks doing in Manila??!?! The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, and we also have a sizeable amount of Muslims, too. Where did these Buddhists come from? Did they confuse Thailand for the Philippines?

Would it kill Marvel to actually do some research? Couldn't they have just asked Leinil Yu about the Philippines?

Seriously, WTF?!?!

One thing they got right... pot-bellied policemen guarding the whole shebang. :P

Just a little teaser...

It was Free Comic Book Day yesterday, and for the first time I missed it. I was at a business meeting the whole morning until about 1:00 in the afternoon that I was just so doggone tired and just wanted to go home. Plus, I missed Kuki and Jade that I decided just to forego FCBD and stay with my family. My only regret was that I wasn't able to get a copy of the free comic from Graphic Classics.

Well, I guess I'll just read all about FCBD from other people's blogs. :)


Image from blog.beliefnet.com

Anyway, I just watched Beowulf on DVD this morning, and decided to write my opinion about it. I'm assuming everyone has seen it by this time, so suffice to say there may be spoilers ahead. But really, weren't we all required to read this during grade school? I guess everyone knows the basic story by now.

The one thing that really struck me about this version is that from the get-go, none of the characters are particularly likeable. It's hard to muster any sympathy for most of the lead characters, with the exception of Beowulf's right hand man Wiglaf and the the queen Wealthow. Beowulf himself is a pretty annoying braggart. Throughout the movie, I didn't particularly care what happens to most of the cast. I found myself being more sympathetic to Grendel's plight, since the monster is portrayed as a dejected son (impled to ne King Hrothgar's, actually).

But I guess maybe what director Robert Zemeckis and co. are trying to say is that men can easily fall prey to our own failings and to temptation, as personified by Grendel's mother, who is the master manipulator behind all the bad things happening in this movie. She has no particular motivation, actually, other than enjoying playing around with the humans around her. Even manipulating her sons to do her work. Sons? Yep, she bedded Beowulf and they had a son, the dragon, who in the film's finale seeks revenge against his negligent father.

In the end, Beowulf realizes the mistakes he made, but it comes a little bit too late. All throughout the majority of the movie he has been unlikeable, so when he finally finds redemption in the end, I found myself hard-pressed to even care. In the end, he gets a burial at sea, and Grendel's mother reappears, now setting her sights on tempting Wiglaf, who is now king. It all ends there, leaving it to the audience to conclude if Wiglaf falls prey to her advances or not. All throughout the film I found Wiglaf to be a man of very strong character, and as someone who is very fiercely loyal to Beowulf. I'd like to think that everything ends on a good note.

What else? Man, I found the animation to be very stiff. I don't know why they couldn't have made this in live-action instead of "realistic" (and I use that term very loosely) CGI. I think it would have worked better.

I have to admit, though, that the final battle with the dragon was spectacular, but again, like Beowulf's redemption, it comes a little bit too late. I guess this DVD will be going to my "for sale" bin.

Could this be the next big budget blockbuster movie!!?!?!



Well, one can only dream. right? :)

I was just fooling around during my lunch break and quickly cobbled up this faux movie poster with some images I got off the internet (so please don't sue me!). Rhian Ramos was the first actress who popped in my head when I was thinking of a lead actress so there she is. And, yes, that's me in the Maskarado costume. I had one made a while back. Complete with foam muscle suit underneath. That costume is HOT! I think it needs a little bit more streamlining, but that will come when I have the budget to pay for it again. I still need to get some white boots. :P

Anyone out there interested in making this movie? Or a teleseries, maybe? GMA? ABS-CBN? ABC 5? Maybe IBC 13? :)

Hey, who would you like to see play the role of Maskarado? I'm thinking Alfred Vargas (since Kuki likes him), or maybe Will Devaughn? Who else would be good for the role?

As a regular MRT rider, I couldn't help but notice the small stickers plastered on the train walls with the title of KFC Cruelty. Upon inspection of their website, it looks like a PETA-backed campaign which encourages everyone to boycott KFC, since they (according to PETA) subject their chickens to physical abuse. To quote the site:

"KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs. At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these ways."

Which got me to remembering this article I once read when I was in high school about one of the provinces in our country (I can't remember which one) where they first beat up the chicken (while it's still alive) before it's cooked. The reason for this is the beat-up chicken releases adrenalin through its skin, making it tastier when cooked. I don't know if this is still practiced up to this day (chances are it still is).

Where do I stand on all this? I honestly don't know. Part of me says "They're just chickens! They're food to us!" But still another part of me would hate for that to happen to my pet (if I had one). What I do know is I hardly eat at KFC anymore. After years of eating there, I seem to have developed a sort of taste fatigue for their chicken. Same goes for Jollibee's Chickenjoy.

Anyway, here's hoping PETA will do the campaign below for the Philippines:


(image from tygerland.net)

Would something like that convince you? ;P