The cards I chose below are from my own point of view. How I think, I evaluate a card's usability and translate its power. It would have been much better if I didn't count them down (I might be mistaken with my judgment). So here it is. I added a few notes to my evaluation.
10. Shriekmaw
Among the first cards that got spoiled, it has relegated the usability of Terror. It's much more expensive than a Nekrataal but does the same job at 1 black mana lesser. And its Fear ability isn't so bad either. Late game beater.
9. Cryptic Command
The commands are interesting. 4 abilities to choose from in one card. It's always great to counter a spell so that's already one useful ability. Then there's tapping all your opponents creatures. And of course, the always important card advantage.
8. Vigor
It's quite big and adequate for its casting cost. Add to the ability of making the rest of your creatures seem like having a protection and making them grow bigger. Now that's something. And with Lorwyn being creature-based, there's sure to be a lot of creatures that can grow because of Vigor. Bravo to this Incarnation!
7. Mulldrifter
Ey, I shouldn't be missing out on card advantage. This elemental is as super (or even better) than Shriekmaw and it has evasion too. Card advantage is always good.
6. Mirror Entity
This one turn creature transformer can make those weenies be big and just end the game right there. Egads! The weenies have another weapon to rely on for massive creature damage.
5. Austere Command
Mass creature removal is always good. More so it's slightly selective mass removal. Another weapon for weenies who want to get rid of those pesky bigger creatures.
4. Garruk Wildspeaker
Probably the best of the new Planeswalkers. It can activate its big ability as fast as the next turn already. By itself, it can generate as many 3/3 Elephants as it wants. A powerhouse on its own.
3. Gaddock Teeg
More powerful stuff for weenies. This creature can just stop all those 4cc spells on its tracks. No more WoG, Damnation, or even those Blaze or Disintegrate.
2. Oblivion Ring
Observers are reminiscing Vindicate. Oblivion Ring is easier on the eyes with its single color casting cost and at the same speed and effect. Should be the removal spell of choice for white.
1. Profane Command
I couldn't believe that I'd be left with Profane Command as number one. Seems kind of risky to choose this card. But it's an excellent finisher with its Drain Life effect, or removal effect, or even its provision of fear to multiple number of creatures.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Criticizing my scholarship
This one is a highly different blog. I'm writing this to put my mind at ease as since there are certain details that needs to be answered to. I might forget all of what I will write here now, consequences of being older.
First up is an introduction to the said scholarship. The CHED scholarship entails me to give a return service of 2 years. The detail that I forgot to read about is whether I am deeply required to finish the said graduate studies.
So, I'm from Iligan City. I chose Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology as the delivering institution. I chose MSU-IIT rather than University of the Philippines-Los Baños because during the summer term, I would be required to be on campus. Choosing Iligan City relieves me of the problem of having to search for a place to stay. My officemate agreed to study at the same school.
The graduate degree in MSU-IIT is non-thesis Master in Information Technology. 6 units per semester for 4 total semesters plus 9 units during the summer term for 2 summers which equates to 42 total units. THIS WAS THE POSTED TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS AS SUBMITTED TO CHED and the same information given to all participating institutions.
Upon submitting the application to MSU-IIT, we were given the go ahead to enroll. Presumably, the school and their instructors know that we have to travel overnight just to reach Iligan City. The suggested mode of instruction was set to be distance education. Upon meeting the instructors for Computer Organization and Data Structures, I was confident that this would be similar, or if not better than, the University of the Philippines-Open University system. Already, we were given an assignment by the Comp Org instructor. The Data Struc instructor instructed us that he would be providing us with notes by email.
So the first semester is on its way. We returned to Silliman, assignments in hand and immediately got to work on it upon arrival. Upon finishing, we submitted our Comp Org assignment and immediately asked for the next thing to do. Now here comes the strange part: our instructors had trouble emailing us back. Successive email messages for almost over a month entailed nothing and it became a joke between my officemate and I on whether we'd get any communication or not at all. The Comp Org instructor later informed of the unfortunate incident regarding their connection and we were to get our next assignments once we would be done with our teaching assignments in Silliman. Which meant to say that we were to go immediately to Iligan for our classes and this would be only during the semestral break (roughly 2 weeks). So, okay, I guess we didn't have any choice. They were the delivering institution and we were the students. It'd be awkward for students to do the demanding in this situation.
And so to the semestral break where we were given roughly two weeks to work on what they asked us to work. A semester worth of discussion would be crammed up in just that short of span of time. We wondered how they would be able to do it. In Comp Org, we were asked to read about journals about nanotechnology and Red Star and Yellow Star. In Data Struc, we were asked to report about linked list operations (which was fine for me because I knew about the subject already). Oh yeah. No final exams of any sort. And another thing, since it was already the end of the semester, we were given an Incomplete grade (two of numerous INCs that we would garner for the rest of our graduate studies).
Now here comes the fun part. As I indicated that there would only be two total years of schooling, the coordinator explained that it wasn't so. There would be an extra semester that would be for the Special Project. We were surprised at this. Our scholarship was only for two years and here they were suddenly changing the curriculum. My officemate and I decided to continue with our studies. What's one more semester? Surely, with how cheap the IIT tuition was, we wouldn't have any problems financially come the time when the scholarship ran out.
So, for the 2nd semester, we took Computer Graphics and Operating Systems. Were things going to be better after the initial guffaw in the first semester? Hell no! It worsened. All semester long, we emailed and we emailed to the instructors and we got more excuses about the connection being lost. How about during December? Who's kidding who? IIT instructors disappear during Christmas break. We waited until the second semester ended so that we could face them once more. We thought that, at least, it wouldn't be two weeks of intensive reading.
It was still the same. The Computer Graphics instructor asked us to make a graphical program in two weeks. What? Why couldn't you have told us in the middle of the semester? At least we would have gotten more time to do it and at the luxury of our office computers compared to having to rent one from an internet cafe. And more readings about virtual clothing, virtual trees, virtual leaves, etc. As for Operating Systems subject, at least we got better handouts but then, handouts don't explain anything. The instructor did hold some classes and even promised a final exam for us a way of evaluation (aside from the research paper that he wanted). The result? No final exam (again).
At least the summer term was technically better. We were sort of juggling around 5 subjects (3 regular subjects for summer and the 2 from the 2nd semester). My officemate was complaining about Programming Languages because we were IT students and not ComSci students. Well, there was nothing that could be done because, as the coordinator said, every graduate student passes through the terrifying Prog Lang instructor. All in all, we breezed through IT Management and Project Management. Both subjects were taught together under one schedule. If somebody can tell me the difference, please feel free to holler at me. Damn teacher got a lot of money out of two subjects taught as one. And it was funny. You had to text the instructor whether there were going to be classes.
Anyway to sum it all up, we had another subject (Artificial Intelligence) where the assignments were placed online but we were never told about it so were given another incomplete grade again. One subject (Expert Systems) had an assignment where we were just told that she (the instructor) expected us to make a mistake (and we did) and we were never explained what to do next.
Things got worse as we were nearing the end of our second year.
For the 2nd summer, I insisted that I wouldn't take any subjects because I wanted to complete everything before I tackle the next ones. The coordinator insisted that we enroll in Data Communications and Research Seminar (a stupid 1 unit subject where we would propose our Research Project). So we did. As I completed all my requirements for Artificial Intelligence and Multimedia Systems during the summer, I was also doing my proposal which seemed to never end because the instructor kept on asking what project I wanted. She kept on asking for my ideas and then shoot them down saying that they were undergraduate type of projects. So, I surrender myself to her telling her that it would be much better if I tap her projects, at least it's a REAL project to her.
And so, another semester passes and then suddenly we're informed that we're to take a comprehensive exam. We were shocked. This was never mentioned ever before. There would be a 6-subject comprehensive exam. As the semester progressed and the correspondence kept on, it became 4 subjects (Data Structures, Computer Organization, Operating Systems, and Programming Languages). I wonder if you would be able to say, "How are YOU going to take the comprehensive exam when all YOU did was read about journals?" If you would, I would kiss you.
So we took a comprehensive exam that I knew that I would surely fail. Comp Org was hell because our teacher (who was the coordinator of the IT graduate studies program) just kept on smiling and joking about it. Data Struc was hell too. We were doing the report about linked list operations only.
Anyway, we finally finished that part and another funny thing just happened. We were just informed that we passed but we never got to see an official score or paper stating that we passed our comprehensive exam. Talk about luck?
The final straw was when we enrolled in Project Seminar for the 2nd time (we ended up failing the first time because we never got to complete our incomplete grade). The new teacher had doubts in letting us enroll. It was a regular semester and he wanted us to be present in Iligan City for the last 2 months of classes. Talk about distance education.
Oh yeah, when we got into our third year of our graduate studies, the new coordinator suddenly told me that there was a residency rule of 4 years in MSU-IIT. If you couldn't finish in 4 years, your subjects are toast except for some 9 units (of I don't know whose choice). Wow! When we started out, this was never mentioned. Now that I'm on my third year, I have to hurry up and finish.
So there. The sad story of studying in MSU-IIT.
First up is an introduction to the said scholarship. The CHED scholarship entails me to give a return service of 2 years. The detail that I forgot to read about is whether I am deeply required to finish the said graduate studies.
So, I'm from Iligan City. I chose Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology as the delivering institution. I chose MSU-IIT rather than University of the Philippines-Los Baños because during the summer term, I would be required to be on campus. Choosing Iligan City relieves me of the problem of having to search for a place to stay. My officemate agreed to study at the same school.
The graduate degree in MSU-IIT is non-thesis Master in Information Technology. 6 units per semester for 4 total semesters plus 9 units during the summer term for 2 summers which equates to 42 total units. THIS WAS THE POSTED TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS AS SUBMITTED TO CHED and the same information given to all participating institutions.
Upon submitting the application to MSU-IIT, we were given the go ahead to enroll. Presumably, the school and their instructors know that we have to travel overnight just to reach Iligan City. The suggested mode of instruction was set to be distance education. Upon meeting the instructors for Computer Organization and Data Structures, I was confident that this would be similar, or if not better than, the University of the Philippines-Open University system. Already, we were given an assignment by the Comp Org instructor. The Data Struc instructor instructed us that he would be providing us with notes by email.
So the first semester is on its way. We returned to Silliman, assignments in hand and immediately got to work on it upon arrival. Upon finishing, we submitted our Comp Org assignment and immediately asked for the next thing to do. Now here comes the strange part: our instructors had trouble emailing us back. Successive email messages for almost over a month entailed nothing and it became a joke between my officemate and I on whether we'd get any communication or not at all. The Comp Org instructor later informed of the unfortunate incident regarding their connection and we were to get our next assignments once we would be done with our teaching assignments in Silliman. Which meant to say that we were to go immediately to Iligan for our classes and this would be only during the semestral break (roughly 2 weeks). So, okay, I guess we didn't have any choice. They were the delivering institution and we were the students. It'd be awkward for students to do the demanding in this situation.
And so to the semestral break where we were given roughly two weeks to work on what they asked us to work. A semester worth of discussion would be crammed up in just that short of span of time. We wondered how they would be able to do it. In Comp Org, we were asked to read about journals about nanotechnology and Red Star and Yellow Star. In Data Struc, we were asked to report about linked list operations (which was fine for me because I knew about the subject already). Oh yeah. No final exams of any sort. And another thing, since it was already the end of the semester, we were given an Incomplete grade (two of numerous INCs that we would garner for the rest of our graduate studies).
Now here comes the fun part. As I indicated that there would only be two total years of schooling, the coordinator explained that it wasn't so. There would be an extra semester that would be for the Special Project. We were surprised at this. Our scholarship was only for two years and here they were suddenly changing the curriculum. My officemate and I decided to continue with our studies. What's one more semester? Surely, with how cheap the IIT tuition was, we wouldn't have any problems financially come the time when the scholarship ran out.
So, for the 2nd semester, we took Computer Graphics and Operating Systems. Were things going to be better after the initial guffaw in the first semester? Hell no! It worsened. All semester long, we emailed and we emailed to the instructors and we got more excuses about the connection being lost. How about during December? Who's kidding who? IIT instructors disappear during Christmas break. We waited until the second semester ended so that we could face them once more. We thought that, at least, it wouldn't be two weeks of intensive reading.
It was still the same. The Computer Graphics instructor asked us to make a graphical program in two weeks. What? Why couldn't you have told us in the middle of the semester? At least we would have gotten more time to do it and at the luxury of our office computers compared to having to rent one from an internet cafe. And more readings about virtual clothing, virtual trees, virtual leaves, etc. As for Operating Systems subject, at least we got better handouts but then, handouts don't explain anything. The instructor did hold some classes and even promised a final exam for us a way of evaluation (aside from the research paper that he wanted). The result? No final exam (again).
At least the summer term was technically better. We were sort of juggling around 5 subjects (3 regular subjects for summer and the 2 from the 2nd semester). My officemate was complaining about Programming Languages because we were IT students and not ComSci students. Well, there was nothing that could be done because, as the coordinator said, every graduate student passes through the terrifying Prog Lang instructor. All in all, we breezed through IT Management and Project Management. Both subjects were taught together under one schedule. If somebody can tell me the difference, please feel free to holler at me. Damn teacher got a lot of money out of two subjects taught as one. And it was funny. You had to text the instructor whether there were going to be classes.
Anyway to sum it all up, we had another subject (Artificial Intelligence) where the assignments were placed online but we were never told about it so were given another incomplete grade again. One subject (Expert Systems) had an assignment where we were just told that she (the instructor) expected us to make a mistake (and we did) and we were never explained what to do next.
Things got worse as we were nearing the end of our second year.
For the 2nd summer, I insisted that I wouldn't take any subjects because I wanted to complete everything before I tackle the next ones. The coordinator insisted that we enroll in Data Communications and Research Seminar (a stupid 1 unit subject where we would propose our Research Project). So we did. As I completed all my requirements for Artificial Intelligence and Multimedia Systems during the summer, I was also doing my proposal which seemed to never end because the instructor kept on asking what project I wanted. She kept on asking for my ideas and then shoot them down saying that they were undergraduate type of projects. So, I surrender myself to her telling her that it would be much better if I tap her projects, at least it's a REAL project to her.
And so, another semester passes and then suddenly we're informed that we're to take a comprehensive exam. We were shocked. This was never mentioned ever before. There would be a 6-subject comprehensive exam. As the semester progressed and the correspondence kept on, it became 4 subjects (Data Structures, Computer Organization, Operating Systems, and Programming Languages). I wonder if you would be able to say, "How are YOU going to take the comprehensive exam when all YOU did was read about journals?" If you would, I would kiss you.
So we took a comprehensive exam that I knew that I would surely fail. Comp Org was hell because our teacher (who was the coordinator of the IT graduate studies program) just kept on smiling and joking about it. Data Struc was hell too. We were doing the report about linked list operations only.
Anyway, we finally finished that part and another funny thing just happened. We were just informed that we passed but we never got to see an official score or paper stating that we passed our comprehensive exam. Talk about luck?
The final straw was when we enrolled in Project Seminar for the 2nd time (we ended up failing the first time because we never got to complete our incomplete grade). The new teacher had doubts in letting us enroll. It was a regular semester and he wanted us to be present in Iligan City for the last 2 months of classes. Talk about distance education.
Oh yeah, when we got into our third year of our graduate studies, the new coordinator suddenly told me that there was a residency rule of 4 years in MSU-IIT. If you couldn't finish in 4 years, your subjects are toast except for some 9 units (of I don't know whose choice). Wow! When we started out, this was never mentioned. Now that I'm on my third year, I have to hurry up and finish.
So there. The sad story of studying in MSU-IIT.
My daemon
Testing if this would work:
Apparently, my daemon is a female crow. Has to be a female because that's the way it is - opposite of my gender. The crow is understandable because I do like crows and I'd like to read more about them.
No comment about the movie though. Let's see if it would not be a box office bust.
Oh yeah, Nicole Kidman is as sexy and seductive as ever.
Apparently, my daemon is a female crow. Has to be a female because that's the way it is - opposite of my gender. The crow is understandable because I do like crows and I'd like to read more about them.
No comment about the movie though. Let's see if it would not be a box office bust.
Oh yeah, Nicole Kidman is as sexy and seductive as ever.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Reviewing (some) Tenth Edition art
Before we get into all the tribal lore (and LOTR feel) of Lorwyn with all the cute and feisty Kithkins, wise and wet Merfolks, still rowdy Goblins, scary (Kamigawa spirit-like) Elementals, literally hot Flamekins, big and sturdy Treefolks, (sometimes black) killer Elves, and all the rest that I forgot, let's take a look back at the new art of some Tenth Edition cards.
The release of a Core Set means spanking new art of some reprinted (and sometimes even debuting Core Set) cards. These cards might be Core Set regulars that have been sporting updated artwork as they were reprinted in past Core Sets, Core Set regulars that has never had new artwork ever even as they got reprinted, or debuting Core Set cards (thus never having the chance for an updated artwork).
Being an art afficionado (though not exactly an artist), I always take time to appreciate the new artwork of (new) releases. Tenth Edition being a Core Set and Core Sets being what they are, it will be much easier to look and choose through all the new art because I don't need to look at ALL of the cards. Sorting them is another matter though and my most gracious thanks to Cebu Regionals Qualifier 2nd placer Ramon "JR" Alivio for providing the list of Tenth Edition cards having new artwork. Obviously, Ramon had plenty of time in his hands.
Before anything else, here are some "disclaimers" to my "judging" technique:
1. As I'm not an artist myself (ey, I draw a bit but only for my own appreciation), the opinions here are purely my own and are debatable (well, what topic isn't debatable?). And that's why there's a forum for the debate. Have something to say? Post it!
2. How do I look at the art? Firstly, the art has to do something. A good illustration has to show a clear interpretation of its ability rather than just being a studio pose. The art has to "move". No movement means no fun. Readers might notice that there isn't one legendary creature in my list. Obviously, all these legendary creatures look like they are just posing. Probably the closest legendary creature that can be mentioned is Squee but the funny thing is, he's not shown as a nabob.
3. Second way that I look at the art is probably my normal human perception on appreciating how the colors are mixed together to form the masterpiece, how realistic the illustration is, how detailed is the drawing, etc.
4. While going over each drawing, I went through the process of giving each piece a rating from 1 to 5. 5 is very nice, 4 is good, 3 is average, 2 is "could be better", and 1 is really sucky. Maybe I'm scared of myself giving a rating of 1 because I'm not an artist (I'm biased to myself) so not one new art got 1. But I did give some 2s.
5. Not to impend me further considering my lack of artistic experience, I chose ten "top" artworks from the criteria above. They are not in order of preference. It's too difficult and too much effort to rank each art.
Without further ado, here are my top ten number 5s (I placed my initial reaction as well as further observations upon better scrutiny):
Air Elemental by Kev Walker
"better than previous, a much more intimidating elemental"
Kev Walker has always been well-known for his cutting edge artwork and he delivers big time with this more intimidating Air Elemental. Air Elemental has long been a favorite of mine (5 to cast 4/4 is good for beginners). Though the art makes Air Elemental look like Cloud Elemental (which is also incidentally in Tenth Ed), Air Elemental gets the nod.
Diabolic Tutor
"awesome and very diabolic"
How else do you show the gaining of additional knowledge through searching for that (possibly) one card to win you the game? One needs the diabolic aid of a tutor, in this case, shown by the skeleton (a possible symbol of evil and diabolism). Of course this art could be mistaken for any other black tutor spell out there but I'm giving a nod to the diabolism of Diabolic Tutor here.
Earth Elemental
"Rock on!"
Another favorite from the first impression. Earth Elemental being red certainly helps to give us an idea that it's the color of violence and chaos and the art is chaotic enought and befitting Earth Elemental. I was surprised that Anthony S. Waters did this. But then again, I haven't been looking really close at his works. My bad.
Evacuation
"I love the showing of the hands, it's trying to show that the pieces are being summoned back"
Well obviously that's what Evacuation is supposed to do... I've seen the other artwork for Evacuation and so far this one really shows a real evacuation but not necessarily done by entities that needs to evacuate. The hands provide the appropriate communication to us. Incidentally, the game of Magic uses hands.
Firebreathing
"nice vibrant colors of a creature breathing fire"
Now that's what I call breathing fire. And the fiery feel to it add justice to the card. I'm a fan of Briclot art too and this one really gets to me. Seems like I could feel the heat whenever I play this card (though playing the card is seldom).
Holy Day
"the weapons going up is just what the card does"
At a closer look, you'll see the arrows going up (and floating?). The illustration shows a war in mid-action. It's moving, yet it's not. Go figure.
Incinerate
"3 words: Burn, baby, burn!"
This art was chosen by readers and players of magicthegathering.com. From the sketch alone, you could see that the creature (looks like a zombie or a normal soldier) is being burned bad. Thus my initial 3 words. By the way, I think the Boros & Szikszai tandem has a great future ahead of them. They constantly turn up really good artworks.
Might of Oaks
"Matt Cavotta lost out on the poll, this one's really much cooler with the big oak fists and all"
I remember the poll. As much as I like Matt's work, the Jeremy Jarvis version blew me away. Yup, big oak fists. Now that's mighty. Nice symbolism all in all.
Regeneration
"wicked! the representation of regeneration is just wicked"
Regeneration reminds me of that "skin" regeneration spell from Kamigawa that had the creature removing the excess skin the symbolize the regeneration. That was kind of gross in a way of describing it. Tenth Ed Regeneration removes the gross part with the symbolism of flowers. Okay, it's now flowery.
The Hive
"nice creature producer and nice art to it"
What a funny initial comment. Well, I couldn't find a better way of describing this creature generator. I like how golden (or yellow) the hive is. Is it because it's all shiny that I'm attracted to the art.
Here are the other cards in Tenth Ed that I gave a rating of 5:
Faerie Conclave
Forbidding Watchtower
Fountain of Youth
Ghitu Encampment
Giant Growth
Hill Giant
Holy Strength
Legacy Weapon
Nekrataal
Overgrowth
Puppeteer
Robe of Mirrors
Sea Monster
Serra's Embrace
Shivan Hellkite
Story Circle
Sudden Impact
Time Stretch
Uncontrollable Anger
Unholy Strength
Wall of Air
Unexpectedly, I've got all five colors (and an artifact) present in my top ten. Too bad that there's no land though I did consider Faerie Conclave, Forbidding Watchtower, and Ghitu Encampment to be right up there with the rest of the 10.
Incidentally, here are cards from Tenth Ed that I gave a score of 2:
Bog Wraith
Lord of the Pit
Suntail Hawk
Wild Griffin
My decision on Lord of the Pit must be biased because I didn't vote for it. Hehehe. Well, I really consider it to be non-demonic considering how the left arm is positioned. It reminds me of gayness (ey, no offense to gay people).
All card images are courtesy of magicthegathering.com.
The release of a Core Set means spanking new art of some reprinted (and sometimes even debuting Core Set) cards. These cards might be Core Set regulars that have been sporting updated artwork as they were reprinted in past Core Sets, Core Set regulars that has never had new artwork ever even as they got reprinted, or debuting Core Set cards (thus never having the chance for an updated artwork).
Being an art afficionado (though not exactly an artist), I always take time to appreciate the new artwork of (new) releases. Tenth Edition being a Core Set and Core Sets being what they are, it will be much easier to look and choose through all the new art because I don't need to look at ALL of the cards. Sorting them is another matter though and my most gracious thanks to Cebu Regionals Qualifier 2nd placer Ramon "JR" Alivio for providing the list of Tenth Edition cards having new artwork. Obviously, Ramon had plenty of time in his hands.
Before anything else, here are some "disclaimers" to my "judging" technique:
1. As I'm not an artist myself (ey, I draw a bit but only for my own appreciation), the opinions here are purely my own and are debatable (well, what topic isn't debatable?). And that's why there's a forum for the debate. Have something to say? Post it!
2. How do I look at the art? Firstly, the art has to do something. A good illustration has to show a clear interpretation of its ability rather than just being a studio pose. The art has to "move". No movement means no fun. Readers might notice that there isn't one legendary creature in my list. Obviously, all these legendary creatures look like they are just posing. Probably the closest legendary creature that can be mentioned is Squee but the funny thing is, he's not shown as a nabob.
3. Second way that I look at the art is probably my normal human perception on appreciating how the colors are mixed together to form the masterpiece, how realistic the illustration is, how detailed is the drawing, etc.
4. While going over each drawing, I went through the process of giving each piece a rating from 1 to 5. 5 is very nice, 4 is good, 3 is average, 2 is "could be better", and 1 is really sucky. Maybe I'm scared of myself giving a rating of 1 because I'm not an artist (I'm biased to myself) so not one new art got 1. But I did give some 2s.
5. Not to impend me further considering my lack of artistic experience, I chose ten "top" artworks from the criteria above. They are not in order of preference. It's too difficult and too much effort to rank each art.
Without further ado, here are my top ten number 5s (I placed my initial reaction as well as further observations upon better scrutiny):
Air Elemental by Kev Walker
"better than previous, a much more intimidating elemental"
Kev Walker has always been well-known for his cutting edge artwork and he delivers big time with this more intimidating Air Elemental. Air Elemental has long been a favorite of mine (5 to cast 4/4 is good for beginners). Though the art makes Air Elemental look like Cloud Elemental (which is also incidentally in Tenth Ed), Air Elemental gets the nod.
Diabolic Tutor
"awesome and very diabolic"
How else do you show the gaining of additional knowledge through searching for that (possibly) one card to win you the game? One needs the diabolic aid of a tutor, in this case, shown by the skeleton (a possible symbol of evil and diabolism). Of course this art could be mistaken for any other black tutor spell out there but I'm giving a nod to the diabolism of Diabolic Tutor here.
Earth Elemental
"Rock on!"
Another favorite from the first impression. Earth Elemental being red certainly helps to give us an idea that it's the color of violence and chaos and the art is chaotic enought and befitting Earth Elemental. I was surprised that Anthony S. Waters did this. But then again, I haven't been looking really close at his works. My bad.
Evacuation
"I love the showing of the hands, it's trying to show that the pieces are being summoned back"
Well obviously that's what Evacuation is supposed to do... I've seen the other artwork for Evacuation and so far this one really shows a real evacuation but not necessarily done by entities that needs to evacuate. The hands provide the appropriate communication to us. Incidentally, the game of Magic uses hands.
Firebreathing
"nice vibrant colors of a creature breathing fire"
Now that's what I call breathing fire. And the fiery feel to it add justice to the card. I'm a fan of Briclot art too and this one really gets to me. Seems like I could feel the heat whenever I play this card (though playing the card is seldom).
Holy Day
"the weapons going up is just what the card does"
At a closer look, you'll see the arrows going up (and floating?). The illustration shows a war in mid-action. It's moving, yet it's not. Go figure.
Incinerate
"3 words: Burn, baby, burn!"
This art was chosen by readers and players of magicthegathering.com. From the sketch alone, you could see that the creature (looks like a zombie or a normal soldier) is being burned bad. Thus my initial 3 words. By the way, I think the Boros & Szikszai tandem has a great future ahead of them. They constantly turn up really good artworks.
Might of Oaks
"Matt Cavotta lost out on the poll, this one's really much cooler with the big oak fists and all"
I remember the poll. As much as I like Matt's work, the Jeremy Jarvis version blew me away. Yup, big oak fists. Now that's mighty. Nice symbolism all in all.
Regeneration
"wicked! the representation of regeneration is just wicked"
Regeneration reminds me of that "skin" regeneration spell from Kamigawa that had the creature removing the excess skin the symbolize the regeneration. That was kind of gross in a way of describing it. Tenth Ed Regeneration removes the gross part with the symbolism of flowers. Okay, it's now flowery.
The Hive
"nice creature producer and nice art to it"
What a funny initial comment. Well, I couldn't find a better way of describing this creature generator. I like how golden (or yellow) the hive is. Is it because it's all shiny that I'm attracted to the art.
Here are the other cards in Tenth Ed that I gave a rating of 5:
Faerie Conclave
Forbidding Watchtower
Fountain of Youth
Ghitu Encampment
Giant Growth
Hill Giant
Holy Strength
Legacy Weapon
Nekrataal
Overgrowth
Puppeteer
Robe of Mirrors
Sea Monster
Serra's Embrace
Shivan Hellkite
Story Circle
Sudden Impact
Time Stretch
Uncontrollable Anger
Unholy Strength
Wall of Air
Unexpectedly, I've got all five colors (and an artifact) present in my top ten. Too bad that there's no land though I did consider Faerie Conclave, Forbidding Watchtower, and Ghitu Encampment to be right up there with the rest of the 10.
Incidentally, here are cards from Tenth Ed that I gave a score of 2:
Bog Wraith
Lord of the Pit
Suntail Hawk
Wild Griffin
My decision on Lord of the Pit must be biased because I didn't vote for it. Hehehe. Well, I really consider it to be non-demonic considering how the left arm is positioned. It reminds me of gayness (ey, no offense to gay people).
All card images are courtesy of magicthegathering.com.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Polls
The link above is for Wizard Universe´s Captain America poll. There are 5 choices, namely: Hawkeye, Falcon, USAgent, Punisher, and Winter Soldier. Here are my takes on each choice and why I chose who I chose.
Hawkeye is an archer and he needs his bow and arrows. Although I think he´s as agile and athletic as Steve Rogers, Hawkeye is too hot tempered and too unpatriotic to don the mantle of Captain America.
Falcon definitely can´t be Captain America. The dude is too buffed up. I wonder if he´d be able to jump around the way Cap does.
Punisher is a hitman, a gunman and any other ¨man¨ as long as it´s associated with a gun. How ironic that Cap uses a shield (which can be described as the opposite of the gun because the shield deflects projectile objects like a gun). Punisher as Captain America would mean a gun-wielding Cap. And considering how sane (or insane) Frank Castle is, no villain would remain alive if the are captured by the Punisher-Captain America. And in closing on the discussion about the Punisher, he is too much of a vigilante to be Captain America.
Winter Soldier would be the next closest to the character I supposedly chose. Which leads me to the defining point on why I chose USAgent (despite probably some character issues with the Agent): the use of the shield. USAgent is probably the best suited person to wield a shield. He should be comfortable enough and he´s almost Captain America. But it´d be a gimme already if that´s the case right. So anyway, I wouldn´t be surprised if Marvel Comics would choose Winter Soldier to be the next Captain America.
The second link is for Wizard Universe´s poll for Spider-Man´s worst costumes. And again, a take on each choice.
The Ben Reilly version is probably the sleekest of the 5. It looks good and close to the Spidey original costume.
The Spider-man 2099 is probably a homage to the Black Spider-man costume and in a ¨dark¨ futuristic age, the black costume fits the bill. He just doesn´t look all that friendly being black.
I personally read the issue that featured the Silver Spider Armor prominently. I think the cover itself prompted me to ask my father to buy the comic book for me. It was the 100th issue of Web of Spider-man. I forgot the villain he was facing but Peter Parker had to do something about his costume (or had to think up of something) to not get killed easily so in a snap he made the armor. Of course he won against the villain!
The red and gold spider armor is courtesy of Tony Stark and featured prominently in Civil War. It´s actually a cool costume too and with all the arms coming out behind him.
And finally, the worst of the 5. Scarlet Spider costume with the grey (or blue) hooded jacket (or vest). I mean, where in Heaven´s name did he get such a jacket? And with the weird positioning of the spider symbol? Sheesh. No wonder Wizards voted this as the lamest character - off the charts!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
2 concerts (6 rock bands) in a week
August 27 at the SU Founder's Day Booth Area saw Chippy (or Jack 'N Jill) sponsoring a free concert featuring Pedicab, Callalilly, and 6 Cycle Mind. August 30 saw another 3 band concert at Macias Sports Complex. This time the concert featured Imago, Itchyworms, and Rocksteddy.
Here's my take on the separate concerts:
It's the first time that I've witnessed a free concert topbilled by known bands and held at the Founder's Day booth area. The stage was too small but it was enough to allow each band to frolick and jump around (and without destroying the stage!). Thank God that the audio system was working really well and the vocals could be heard clearly by the crowd.
Pedicab isn't that famous to me but their sound was like listening to Orgy (not the sexual act).
Callalilly is more famous and I was surprised that they sang the songs that I would hear most of the time on the radio stations. Chalk one up for the ignorant!
6 Cycle Mind played revivals mostly and I would have preferred that they had more original songs.
The one thing about these bands was that they didn't have a distinctive voice that would enable a listener to identify one from the other.
Oh yeah, I was watching all this (and part of 6 Cycle Mind's performance) despite the rain. If it was a continuous downpour, it would have been even more fun. I was confused whether I was wet with sweat or rain...
After the Founder's Day, some organizers had the balls to stage a non-free concert and on a work night. Go figure. I had a free VIP ticket so I happily watched the concert. The venue was too big for a concert like this and they probably would have enjoyed it much better if they were playing at an open field (like the booth area).
Imago should be successful if they continue to release a lot of original songs. The vocalist certainly has a great voice. Hopefully she won't think about going solo and leave the rest of her bandmates out on the rain.
Itchyworms started their part with lively music and kept on with it. The main vocalist even had to change guitars in the middle of their whole part as one the strings probably broke. I appreciate their effort to get everybody in the band to sing. They sounded (and looked) like Side A.
Rocksteddy certainly proved to be a great main event. I must say that they must have planned all their moves: diving into the crowds, jumping over each other, and the guitarist banging the cymbals.
With the type of occupation that I have, I had to behave. Certainly, I could headbang my way but no sound made me feel like doing so. Maybe next time...
All 3 rock bands did well and they played to the audiences' delight. Nice performance in all!
Here's my take on the separate concerts:
It's the first time that I've witnessed a free concert topbilled by known bands and held at the Founder's Day booth area. The stage was too small but it was enough to allow each band to frolick and jump around (and without destroying the stage!). Thank God that the audio system was working really well and the vocals could be heard clearly by the crowd.
Pedicab isn't that famous to me but their sound was like listening to Orgy (not the sexual act).
Callalilly is more famous and I was surprised that they sang the songs that I would hear most of the time on the radio stations. Chalk one up for the ignorant!
6 Cycle Mind played revivals mostly and I would have preferred that they had more original songs.
The one thing about these bands was that they didn't have a distinctive voice that would enable a listener to identify one from the other.
Oh yeah, I was watching all this (and part of 6 Cycle Mind's performance) despite the rain. If it was a continuous downpour, it would have been even more fun. I was confused whether I was wet with sweat or rain...
After the Founder's Day, some organizers had the balls to stage a non-free concert and on a work night. Go figure. I had a free VIP ticket so I happily watched the concert. The venue was too big for a concert like this and they probably would have enjoyed it much better if they were playing at an open field (like the booth area).
Imago should be successful if they continue to release a lot of original songs. The vocalist certainly has a great voice. Hopefully she won't think about going solo and leave the rest of her bandmates out on the rain.
Itchyworms started their part with lively music and kept on with it. The main vocalist even had to change guitars in the middle of their whole part as one the strings probably broke. I appreciate their effort to get everybody in the band to sing. They sounded (and looked) like Side A.
Rocksteddy certainly proved to be a great main event. I must say that they must have planned all their moves: diving into the crowds, jumping over each other, and the guitarist banging the cymbals.
With the type of occupation that I have, I had to behave. Certainly, I could headbang my way but no sound made me feel like doing so. Maybe next time...
All 3 rock bands did well and they played to the audiences' delight. Nice performance in all!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Faker (again)
Here's one wake-up call for me one Wednesday afternoon. I'm reading Faker #2.
My review for Faker #1 is totally moot now. All this time I was thinking that the comic book would be a simple college setting story. But oh no. Now, it's kind of a supernatural suspense thriller mixed with emotions, suicide, relationships, etc. What's next Diggle? I'm raring to get on with the next issue.
My review for Faker #1 is totally moot now. All this time I was thinking that the comic book would be a simple college setting story. But oh no. Now, it's kind of a supernatural suspense thriller mixed with emotions, suicide, relationships, etc. What's next Diggle? I'm raring to get on with the next issue.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Missing out on Astro City
Astro City.
Here in the Philippines, Astro is a brand of a cigarette. Cheap cigarette. If you couldn't afford Marlboro because you ran out of coins, you'd be smoking Astro to get almost the same effect. I actually can't relate. A friend told me about this because I asked him why he was smoking Astro when I know that he liked Marlboro. I can't relate because I don't smoke. Honestly.
Anyway, this blog is not about Astro the Cigarette. It's about Astro City by Kurt Busiek. It's probably one of the best comic books I've ever read. I even got high marks from other people when I said that Astro City is one of the best books out there. They all agreed. Kurt Busiek's storytelling style is just so good. Sadly, I can't compare Astro City to any of his works because I haven't grabbed any of his other works.
Here's my history with Astro City: The first issue I got to read was the one with Crackerjack. I think it was issue #5. Surprisingly, the point of view was from a villain - an alien disguised as an ordinary man. In that issue, in one chance encounter with Crackerjack, the alien decides on an invasion depending on Crackerjack's hero-ness. Crackerjack being the egoistic hero that he is ultimately leads to an invasion which until now I haven't read about any other issues.
I got hooked after that. I read the mails from the other readers and I got to know a lot about the other issues simply by reading the mails. I instantly asked my brother to look for issue #1 and thank God it wasn't that well known yet. I was able to get issues #1 - 4. Issue #6 came later when I discovered Ebay.
The joy of reading the Astro City limited series is that you really get to feel from the point of view of whoever is telling the story. You're literally in his/her shoes. It's refreshing, it's honest, it's full of "real" life. Here's a superhero genre comic book that probably doesn't have to always involve fighting and violence. Humans could tell the story. And even the superheroes too.
Anyway, I never got to say what the comic book is about. It's about Astro City, a city full of superheroes. That's it. Hehehe. Anyway, grab one. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Here in the Philippines, Astro is a brand of a cigarette. Cheap cigarette. If you couldn't afford Marlboro because you ran out of coins, you'd be smoking Astro to get almost the same effect. I actually can't relate. A friend told me about this because I asked him why he was smoking Astro when I know that he liked Marlboro. I can't relate because I don't smoke. Honestly.
Anyway, this blog is not about Astro the Cigarette. It's about Astro City by Kurt Busiek. It's probably one of the best comic books I've ever read. I even got high marks from other people when I said that Astro City is one of the best books out there. They all agreed. Kurt Busiek's storytelling style is just so good. Sadly, I can't compare Astro City to any of his works because I haven't grabbed any of his other works.
Here's my history with Astro City: The first issue I got to read was the one with Crackerjack. I think it was issue #5. Surprisingly, the point of view was from a villain - an alien disguised as an ordinary man. In that issue, in one chance encounter with Crackerjack, the alien decides on an invasion depending on Crackerjack's hero-ness. Crackerjack being the egoistic hero that he is ultimately leads to an invasion which until now I haven't read about any other issues.
I got hooked after that. I read the mails from the other readers and I got to know a lot about the other issues simply by reading the mails. I instantly asked my brother to look for issue #1 and thank God it wasn't that well known yet. I was able to get issues #1 - 4. Issue #6 came later when I discovered Ebay.
The joy of reading the Astro City limited series is that you really get to feel from the point of view of whoever is telling the story. You're literally in his/her shoes. It's refreshing, it's honest, it's full of "real" life. Here's a superhero genre comic book that probably doesn't have to always involve fighting and violence. Humans could tell the story. And even the superheroes too.
Anyway, I never got to say what the comic book is about. It's about Astro City, a city full of superheroes. That's it. Hehehe. Anyway, grab one. I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A different kind of review this time around (Harry Potter)
I just saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last Saturday. Imagine the situation first:
I just came from 5 rounds of Extended Constructed in Magic the Gathering. I was bringing an untested deck which was frankly taxing on my brain and nerve wracking as hell as I wasn´t really that ready to go into battle with such a deck. I did finish well but I got the shock of my life. I finished with 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie. The only loss was surrendered in favor of my teammate who had a better chance of finishing number one. Talk about taking one for the team.
So we (or more precisely, my sister) decided that we would watch Harry Potter instead of Transformers. Frankly, I would consider Transformers as a much more interesting movie because of the special effects. And who wouldn´t appreciate those cool funky robots! I´ve been speed reading Harry Potter in the last year or so. Once you get to read the book, you would lose all appreciation for the movie. It just went south starting with Prisoner of Azkaban and it worsened with Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix the Movie would just become one more movie that would be unappreciated by yours truly.
We hurried up our dinner as we had to catch the last full show. Thankfully the movie house accepted credit cards!
So, on to the movie proper. Well, I´m quite amused that they managed to cram up so much information into just a few minutes. By the way, Order of the Phoenix seems to be the thickest of the books so far and it elaborately describes the actions and situations that lead to each decree that the antagonist Prof. Umbridge issues. In the movie, it was just a simple Daily Prophet headline. Come to think of it, this movie seems to be using a lot of Daily Prophet exposure.
I honestly can´t say whether the movie would be understandable or not. Since I already read the book, the characters were already familiar to me (and I knew even further than that). I already knew a certain event would happen and it was just a matter of how the director would go about in presenting it.
I love the fight scene where Black appeared out of nowhere to save Harry. Now, that one is impossible to imagine while reading. The sudden arrival of the ¨cavalry¨ through the swishing of mist (or cloud). It gave me a chance to say ¨Wow!¨ for the first time in the movie.
So there you go. Maybe because of the fight scenes I´d give a rating of 8 out of 10. But the movie overall, I´d give it a 5 out of 10. It wasn´t there for me...
I just came from 5 rounds of Extended Constructed in Magic the Gathering. I was bringing an untested deck which was frankly taxing on my brain and nerve wracking as hell as I wasn´t really that ready to go into battle with such a deck. I did finish well but I got the shock of my life. I finished with 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie. The only loss was surrendered in favor of my teammate who had a better chance of finishing number one. Talk about taking one for the team.
So we (or more precisely, my sister) decided that we would watch Harry Potter instead of Transformers. Frankly, I would consider Transformers as a much more interesting movie because of the special effects. And who wouldn´t appreciate those cool funky robots! I´ve been speed reading Harry Potter in the last year or so. Once you get to read the book, you would lose all appreciation for the movie. It just went south starting with Prisoner of Azkaban and it worsened with Goblet of Fire. Order of the Phoenix the Movie would just become one more movie that would be unappreciated by yours truly.
We hurried up our dinner as we had to catch the last full show. Thankfully the movie house accepted credit cards!
So, on to the movie proper. Well, I´m quite amused that they managed to cram up so much information into just a few minutes. By the way, Order of the Phoenix seems to be the thickest of the books so far and it elaborately describes the actions and situations that lead to each decree that the antagonist Prof. Umbridge issues. In the movie, it was just a simple Daily Prophet headline. Come to think of it, this movie seems to be using a lot of Daily Prophet exposure.
I honestly can´t say whether the movie would be understandable or not. Since I already read the book, the characters were already familiar to me (and I knew even further than that). I already knew a certain event would happen and it was just a matter of how the director would go about in presenting it.
I love the fight scene where Black appeared out of nowhere to save Harry. Now, that one is impossible to imagine while reading. The sudden arrival of the ¨cavalry¨ through the swishing of mist (or cloud). It gave me a chance to say ¨Wow!¨ for the first time in the movie.
So there you go. Maybe because of the fight scenes I´d give a rating of 8 out of 10. But the movie overall, I´d give it a 5 out of 10. It wasn´t there for me...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Faker
How do I begin?
This book got me hooked.
That good enough?
Anyway, I´ve been keeping a close lookout on new releases and I never knew anything about Faker so I figured out that I´d give it a try. I wasn´t disappointed over my decision to get this book. From the cover, I thought it´d be a book about supernatural powers (and I could still be mistaken after reading just the first issue). If the book stays as it is with it´s gritty look at college students, it´d still be a blast.
I´m surprised that Mike Carey still captures the essence of college life. Though I have a different college life than what the characters are having in the book, it´s the typical college life in America, I guess. I´m just amazed that Carey really got into it: the drugs, the parties, the puking, etc.
And a nice intro too with the seduction of the instructor. That girl can do it to me but of course I´m way much better than that instructor.
Well, all I can say for now is that these Vertigo books are doing really fine with their stories. I can´t wait to get my hands on the next issue.
This book got me hooked.
That good enough?
Anyway, I´ve been keeping a close lookout on new releases and I never knew anything about Faker so I figured out that I´d give it a try. I wasn´t disappointed over my decision to get this book. From the cover, I thought it´d be a book about supernatural powers (and I could still be mistaken after reading just the first issue). If the book stays as it is with it´s gritty look at college students, it´d still be a blast.
I´m surprised that Mike Carey still captures the essence of college life. Though I have a different college life than what the characters are having in the book, it´s the typical college life in America, I guess. I´m just amazed that Carey really got into it: the drugs, the parties, the puking, etc.
And a nice intro too with the seduction of the instructor. That girl can do it to me but of course I´m way much better than that instructor.
Well, all I can say for now is that these Vertigo books are doing really fine with their stories. I can´t wait to get my hands on the next issue.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Pugad Baboy
A blog can never be complete without my all-time favorite Pugad Baboy (translation: Pig's Nest). Pugad Baboy is drawn by Pol Medina, Jr.
Pugad Baboy is published daily in the Philippine Daily Inquirer as a comic strip. Almost each year, a collected edition of the strips is published. I always make it a point to get one because they're quite hot specially for those who follow the strips religiously.
Just a brief background on how I came to know about Pugad Baboy. My cousin had a collection of the first collected editions. Everytime I'd get to visit their place, I always had a marathon reading of the books. When I was able to start buying my own books, I made it a point to start a collection on the Pugad Baboy collected editions.
I'm positive that my love for Pugad Baboy is appreciated only by my fellow Filipinos. To sum up the comic strip, it's a comic strip that discusses a wide range of topics: politics, current trends, movies, etc.
Here's a rundown of the main characters and how they represent the Filipino society:
Sungcal family:
Adagulfo Sungcal or Dagul (for short) represents the hardworking Filipino. He is the typical Filipino who is very loving and caring for his children (wakes up in the morning to prepare the children's food). Aside from that, Dagul is a procastinator. Who wouldn't be?
Dagul's wife is Debbie. She's the typical housewife who loves to shop whenever there's a sale going on. And also a typical woman who needs a lot of time to choose a particular item.
The eldest child is Hercules or Kules. He represents the typical Filipino who has to work abroad.
Tiny is the only daughter. She represents the collegiate Filipino.
Utoy is the youngest child. He (together with his boyhood friends) represents the young Filipinos. Techy and playful.
Of course, no Filipino household is complete without the housekeeper. Brosia is the Sungcal's housekeeper and a constant thorn to Dagul.
Sabaybunot family:
Tomas is the supposed head of the family. My take on his wife explains the reason for being just the supposed head. Tomas represents the Filipino soldier. He's a chauvinistic pig who spends a lot of time drinking and being with GROs.
Barbie is Tomas' feminist wife. The feminist group Gabriela always comes to mind whenever I read about Barbie. She is just that, pure feminist.
Paltik is the only child of the Sabaybunot family.
Lamoun family:
Bab is the head male as his father died at an early age. Bab is the typical no-job, lazy, and slightly addicted Filipino. All the bad Filipino traits are probably in Bab.
Meanwhile, Jolen is the opposite of Bab.
The rest of Pugad Baboy:
Ka Noli represents the Filipino rebel. He's a member of the New People's Army and unusually best friends with Tomas.
Mao represents the Chinese immigrants who opens up a business in the Philippines. Mao is thrifty and always wary of kidnappers. Though not exactly a Filipino, he is still part of the Filipino daily life. (Show me a place where there aren't any Chinese immigrant, and I'll stop blogging)
Pao is the son/daughter of Mao. Pao represents the homosexual Filipino.
Miss Nobatos is the kids' teacher. She represents the always sad plight of Filipino teachers in the country.
Senator Cabalfin is a Philippine Senator who resides in Pugad Baboy. He ultimately represents the politicians. How corrupt the Philippine government is, that's how corrupt Senator Cabalfin is too.
Patrolman Durugas represents an even more menacing problem hounding the Philippines: the unrepenting distrust towards the police. In the comic strip, policemen are more likely to commit the crime rather than stopping it. Of course, several crimefighters are loyal enough to their job to see to it that crime does not pay.
And have I forgotten a character? One of the most important characters in the strip is Polgas, the talking dog. Well, since talking dogs are definitely out of line in our society, Polgas represents the fantasy that Pol Medina wants to live in. Polgas is adventurous and is a secret agent for OCB (which stands for Organized Canine Bureau).
To sum everything up, Pugad Baboy is always enjoyable because it is truly Filipino. Highly impossible that a Filipino cannot relate to the comic strip without knowing about what's happening to his environment and society.
Pugad Baboy is published daily in the Philippine Daily Inquirer as a comic strip. Almost each year, a collected edition of the strips is published. I always make it a point to get one because they're quite hot specially for those who follow the strips religiously.
Just a brief background on how I came to know about Pugad Baboy. My cousin had a collection of the first collected editions. Everytime I'd get to visit their place, I always had a marathon reading of the books. When I was able to start buying my own books, I made it a point to start a collection on the Pugad Baboy collected editions.
I'm positive that my love for Pugad Baboy is appreciated only by my fellow Filipinos. To sum up the comic strip, it's a comic strip that discusses a wide range of topics: politics, current trends, movies, etc.
Here's a rundown of the main characters and how they represent the Filipino society:
Sungcal family:
Adagulfo Sungcal or Dagul (for short) represents the hardworking Filipino. He is the typical Filipino who is very loving and caring for his children (wakes up in the morning to prepare the children's food). Aside from that, Dagul is a procastinator. Who wouldn't be?
Dagul's wife is Debbie. She's the typical housewife who loves to shop whenever there's a sale going on. And also a typical woman who needs a lot of time to choose a particular item.
The eldest child is Hercules or Kules. He represents the typical Filipino who has to work abroad.
Tiny is the only daughter. She represents the collegiate Filipino.
Utoy is the youngest child. He (together with his boyhood friends) represents the young Filipinos. Techy and playful.
Of course, no Filipino household is complete without the housekeeper. Brosia is the Sungcal's housekeeper and a constant thorn to Dagul.
Sabaybunot family:
Tomas is the supposed head of the family. My take on his wife explains the reason for being just the supposed head. Tomas represents the Filipino soldier. He's a chauvinistic pig who spends a lot of time drinking and being with GROs.
Barbie is Tomas' feminist wife. The feminist group Gabriela always comes to mind whenever I read about Barbie. She is just that, pure feminist.
Paltik is the only child of the Sabaybunot family.
Lamoun family:
Bab is the head male as his father died at an early age. Bab is the typical no-job, lazy, and slightly addicted Filipino. All the bad Filipino traits are probably in Bab.
Meanwhile, Jolen is the opposite of Bab.
The rest of Pugad Baboy:
Ka Noli represents the Filipino rebel. He's a member of the New People's Army and unusually best friends with Tomas.
Mao represents the Chinese immigrants who opens up a business in the Philippines. Mao is thrifty and always wary of kidnappers. Though not exactly a Filipino, he is still part of the Filipino daily life. (Show me a place where there aren't any Chinese immigrant, and I'll stop blogging)
Pao is the son/daughter of Mao. Pao represents the homosexual Filipino.
Miss Nobatos is the kids' teacher. She represents the always sad plight of Filipino teachers in the country.
Senator Cabalfin is a Philippine Senator who resides in Pugad Baboy. He ultimately represents the politicians. How corrupt the Philippine government is, that's how corrupt Senator Cabalfin is too.
Patrolman Durugas represents an even more menacing problem hounding the Philippines: the unrepenting distrust towards the police. In the comic strip, policemen are more likely to commit the crime rather than stopping it. Of course, several crimefighters are loyal enough to their job to see to it that crime does not pay.
And have I forgotten a character? One of the most important characters in the strip is Polgas, the talking dog. Well, since talking dogs are definitely out of line in our society, Polgas represents the fantasy that Pol Medina wants to live in. Polgas is adventurous and is a secret agent for OCB (which stands for Organized Canine Bureau).
To sum everything up, Pugad Baboy is always enjoyable because it is truly Filipino. Highly impossible that a Filipino cannot relate to the comic strip without knowing about what's happening to his environment and society.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
It's World War Hulk
World War Hulk is on Marvel right now. After more than 6 months of Civil War, an even bigger issue hits the Marvel Universe that would make Civil War look like child's play. Civil War "involved" only the US. World War Hulk, as the name implies, should involve the whole world much like the 2 real World Wars that we've had. As what happened in the first issue of World War Hulk #1, Hulk beat Black Bolt to a pulp. And this happened in the moon.
After Civil War saw the pro-registration guys win the war and Iron Man appointed as SHIELD director, I was skeptical of the 50 States Initiative that Marvel put into place. The whole idea would be overexposure and might dry up the ideas of the House of Ideas. Well then, World War Hulk should return Marvel to normal. I just can't wait how everything would play out.
I'm also a non-fan of Incredible Hulk (although I did watch the movie). Here's a mean, green brainless (originally) monster who is probably the exact irony of a superhero. Bruce Banner has to get mad to be a "hero." Didn't we ever grow up knowing that we have to check our tempers? Hulk used to be a joy to watch if you're a kid because he's fond of destroying, just like we were when we were babies.
But I have to admit that World War Hulk has intrigued me. And I will be following up on the whole series. You should too.
After Civil War saw the pro-registration guys win the war and Iron Man appointed as SHIELD director, I was skeptical of the 50 States Initiative that Marvel put into place. The whole idea would be overexposure and might dry up the ideas of the House of Ideas. Well then, World War Hulk should return Marvel to normal. I just can't wait how everything would play out.
I'm also a non-fan of Incredible Hulk (although I did watch the movie). Here's a mean, green brainless (originally) monster who is probably the exact irony of a superhero. Bruce Banner has to get mad to be a "hero." Didn't we ever grow up knowing that we have to check our tempers? Hulk used to be a joy to watch if you're a kid because he's fond of destroying, just like we were when we were babies.
But I have to admit that World War Hulk has intrigued me. And I will be following up on the whole series. You should too.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
still catching up
After almost 2 months of no contact with any comic book, I'm still catching up. I've got new ones that are debuts but I haven't gone through them yet.
So far, it's been great reading X-Factor. Peter David still has it and the book brings back memories of the X-Factor team that Havok was leading. I'm glad that I started reading it when it was just starting and I've been hooked ever since. Highly recommended. One note: Layla Miller is the "X-Factor" (for lack of a better word) character of the book. She provides a lot of the funny stuff that occurs to the team.
I'm also following the Back in Black saga of Spider-man. Weird timing considering that he's all black in Spider-man 3. Well, I haven't figured out where he got back his costume - I'm sure it's not the alien one.
Of all the Civil War Initiative titles out there, I'm keeping tabs with Thunderbolts. I've heard of them a lot of times before and I heard more when they became a featured team in the VS system. Maybe I'm just too lazy to follow up on the rest of the Initiative titles but the Thunderbolts are one crazy team (or team-up). You've got reformed criminals who are "trying" to do good when it has never been good before. Go figure. Besides, anytime you've got a team that has Venom and Bullseye in it is good enough to read.
Speaking of Civil War Initiative, Joe Quesada is pinning a lot on this and I'm just waiting for the time when he'll have exhausted all resources regarding having superheroes on all the states in America. Well, I'm sure he hasn't featured Hawaii yet. Come to think of it, who's assigned in Hawaii?
And oh yeah, read Criminal. I can't wait for Ed Brubaker to sell his story and make it into a movie. Yo, Ed! Frank Miller's making a whole bunch of money with his Sin City and 300. Your stories can kick ass.
Monday, May 28, 2007
The dream of working for Wizard - The Guide to Comics
So... This is blogging...
What an introduction.
In the weeks to come (and in my effort to be a freelance writer for Wizard the Guide to Comics), I'm going to critique comic books. I guess it will be any comic book out of the blue - anything that I can get my hands on. Let's just say that I'm inspired by Wizard's weekly review of the best comic books in that week. My range will be limited to what I can get. I'm willing to read anything and since I'm not working for any comic book company, I'm willing to get everything out of my chest.
First off, I'll have to "introduce" myself so that readers may know why I'm doing this critique and why I want to do this.
I've been a comic book reader since the day I could start turning the page of a book. Oh, I wouldn't be considered a reader yet. More of a picture viewer because I couldn't read yet. Somehow, the joy of knowing how to read became the greatest achievement of my life as I was given the ability to understand what the words in the balloon meant.
Back then, most comic books were reprinted for the Philippine market so they were virtually of no high value. I probably ended up damaging the comic books that were not collected and not bound into hardcover (my parents used to do this so as to prevent further damage). And my elder brother probably ended up getting angry at me for damaging his collection. This was the late 80s and early 90s when I hadn't discovered computers (or the Internet) yet. Most of the information that I got about the Marvel or DC universe came from comic book guides where there were synopses of several issues. I could already piece things out together from there.
More readings came from original comic books that were borrowed from classmates and a friend who kept getting comic books as gifts. Of course, I was more careful since these comic books were originals and not the reprinted ones. A weird thing too because the reprinted books were no longer available.
Later on, fake X-men Series 1 cards came out. The beauty of Jim Lee's art got to me and I continued to piece together the history of Marvel Universe (or more specifically the X-men Universe) from there. I almost completed the set yet realized later that they were really crappy fakes.
By this time ( I think I was in high school), original comic books were already sold at several stores which were located in bigger cities (Metro Manila, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro City). If given the chance when I went to these cities, I would always visit the comic book shops. But, due to the meager allowance that I had, I was stuck to buying cards. To add, my father used to say that buying comic books was a waste of money so he hated the idea of buying them. Cards were so much better because they could be hidden in the pockets. A funny thing happened while I was in Manila though. My thrifty father and I went to this comic book shop and he told me to pick a comic book. I was stunned and couldn't speak and I couldn't select ONE. So he told me to pick two!!! And I did. I picked Spectacular Spider-man 275 (if I'm not mistaken with the issue number) and Web of Spider-man 100. Things went up from there...
A vacation in Cebu went horribly wrong financially as I spent more than half of my allowance on comic books in the first day alone. I already had a list of what to buy and being alone in the comic book shop was like being in heaven. During this time, Image Comics had just come out. Though I was late for the big first issues, I took the next best things and bought the ones I considered that had the best stories.
In my last years in high school, I went to buying and selling comic books in my school. My big brother who was in Manila provided the capital (which I returned to him promptly) and I did the selling part. I mostly sold them to classmates. We stopped the business when he transferred back to our place but I did rack up enough to open my own savings account. I did get the opportunity to write about comic books as I made it my research paper for my English subject. Wizard (shameless plug) was a great help as it became my main reference.
The existence of the Internet opened up more chances of reading about the Marvel, DC, and Image Universe. I kept feeding myself with information from the Net. This was college. I had transferred to a different city to study. Unfortunately, the city didn't have any comic book shops but I was satisfied with what I had. Comic books had become too expensive as the value of the dollar shot up.
When I finally got to work, I bought collected editions of comic books. I was now reading Astro City, Kingdom Come, and any other collected edition that was worth its price and had an astonishing review. I was able to buy from online stores and had it shipped to friends in the United States. They in turn would have somebody carry the comic books for a sure handling.
And I've continued to read ever since. So far, I've been following up with Wolverine: Origins, X-Factor, Justice League, Justice Society, Flash, and many more. I love cartoons and am enchanted with comic books with lots of humour mixed with it.
I should "officially" start by next week once I've acclimated back to my office environment.
Anybody who reads blogs can help criticize my work. And of course, it'd be a huge help if my blog would somehow end up at Wizard's office. For me, working at Wizard surrounded by comic books is one big heaven for me.
Keep posted.
What an introduction.
In the weeks to come (and in my effort to be a freelance writer for Wizard the Guide to Comics), I'm going to critique comic books. I guess it will be any comic book out of the blue - anything that I can get my hands on. Let's just say that I'm inspired by Wizard's weekly review of the best comic books in that week. My range will be limited to what I can get. I'm willing to read anything and since I'm not working for any comic book company, I'm willing to get everything out of my chest.
First off, I'll have to "introduce" myself so that readers may know why I'm doing this critique and why I want to do this.
I've been a comic book reader since the day I could start turning the page of a book. Oh, I wouldn't be considered a reader yet. More of a picture viewer because I couldn't read yet. Somehow, the joy of knowing how to read became the greatest achievement of my life as I was given the ability to understand what the words in the balloon meant.
Back then, most comic books were reprinted for the Philippine market so they were virtually of no high value. I probably ended up damaging the comic books that were not collected and not bound into hardcover (my parents used to do this so as to prevent further damage). And my elder brother probably ended up getting angry at me for damaging his collection. This was the late 80s and early 90s when I hadn't discovered computers (or the Internet) yet. Most of the information that I got about the Marvel or DC universe came from comic book guides where there were synopses of several issues. I could already piece things out together from there.
More readings came from original comic books that were borrowed from classmates and a friend who kept getting comic books as gifts. Of course, I was more careful since these comic books were originals and not the reprinted ones. A weird thing too because the reprinted books were no longer available.
Later on, fake X-men Series 1 cards came out. The beauty of Jim Lee's art got to me and I continued to piece together the history of Marvel Universe (or more specifically the X-men Universe) from there. I almost completed the set yet realized later that they were really crappy fakes.
By this time ( I think I was in high school), original comic books were already sold at several stores which were located in bigger cities (Metro Manila, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro City). If given the chance when I went to these cities, I would always visit the comic book shops. But, due to the meager allowance that I had, I was stuck to buying cards. To add, my father used to say that buying comic books was a waste of money so he hated the idea of buying them. Cards were so much better because they could be hidden in the pockets. A funny thing happened while I was in Manila though. My thrifty father and I went to this comic book shop and he told me to pick a comic book. I was stunned and couldn't speak and I couldn't select ONE. So he told me to pick two!!! And I did. I picked Spectacular Spider-man 275 (if I'm not mistaken with the issue number) and Web of Spider-man 100. Things went up from there...
A vacation in Cebu went horribly wrong financially as I spent more than half of my allowance on comic books in the first day alone. I already had a list of what to buy and being alone in the comic book shop was like being in heaven. During this time, Image Comics had just come out. Though I was late for the big first issues, I took the next best things and bought the ones I considered that had the best stories.
In my last years in high school, I went to buying and selling comic books in my school. My big brother who was in Manila provided the capital (which I returned to him promptly) and I did the selling part. I mostly sold them to classmates. We stopped the business when he transferred back to our place but I did rack up enough to open my own savings account. I did get the opportunity to write about comic books as I made it my research paper for my English subject. Wizard (shameless plug) was a great help as it became my main reference.
The existence of the Internet opened up more chances of reading about the Marvel, DC, and Image Universe. I kept feeding myself with information from the Net. This was college. I had transferred to a different city to study. Unfortunately, the city didn't have any comic book shops but I was satisfied with what I had. Comic books had become too expensive as the value of the dollar shot up.
When I finally got to work, I bought collected editions of comic books. I was now reading Astro City, Kingdom Come, and any other collected edition that was worth its price and had an astonishing review. I was able to buy from online stores and had it shipped to friends in the United States. They in turn would have somebody carry the comic books for a sure handling.
And I've continued to read ever since. So far, I've been following up with Wolverine: Origins, X-Factor, Justice League, Justice Society, Flash, and many more. I love cartoons and am enchanted with comic books with lots of humour mixed with it.
I should "officially" start by next week once I've acclimated back to my office environment.
Anybody who reads blogs can help criticize my work. And of course, it'd be a huge help if my blog would somehow end up at Wizard's office. For me, working at Wizard surrounded by comic books is one big heaven for me.
Keep posted.
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