Book: Mythspace

I don’t understand. Is this supposed to be an ongoing series, or a series of stories set in one fictional universe?

See, when I got a hold of Mythspace Lift Off at last year’s local comic convention, I thought there would be four stories that deal with the what if engkantos, folklore creatures, were aliens. Different stories that handle the situation, well, differently.

Instead we get four stories set in the same universe where things are just confusing.

Lift Off (Part 2 of 3)

Lift Off is the first one I read because it ties to one of the stories in the previous Mythspace release. I wasn’t a fan of the art then, but I’m warming up to it now. Maybe because out of the four stories they released, this one looks the cleanest.

Unfortunately, if it was unclear about what’s going on with our protagonist before, it’s murkier now. In the second of three parts, our lead Ambrosio is being presented as a gift to a megalomaniac overlord. And to bridge the gap of what happened since the story cut off the last time, we get treated to flashbacks.

The premise remains interesting, but I still can’t grasp the story.

Or why I’m supposed to care for Ambrosio.

And by issue’s end, I’ve made this assumption: Lift Off is a Summer blockbuster–it’s one story. And breaking it off into three is hurting its storytelling, because readers are only privy to the now, with no clue of the before and the after. Cliffhangers only work when you actually care about the characters.

Had this been released in one go, I think Lift Off would have made a better impression on me. In its current format, I’m just– Well, I’m just concerned if it will all be worth it in the end.

Devourers of Light

I loved the style of this story. I prefer cleaner art, yes, but you have to give credit where credit is due. And the art in this story definitely has style. I just wish the story made an impression too.

I hate being negative, but I don’t get the point of this story. I don’t even feel like this was a complete story. If this were a television program or a movie, Devourers of Light was just a couple of scenes that detail what the villains are doing.

From the moment I started reading until the time I turned the last page, I wondered, what I was supposed to learn from the story– Or what am I supposed to take from this? What does the writer want to say?

I drew a blank.

But I’m open to discuss this to the others who read the story. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places?

Black Mark

Soap opera lives in comic form! Main character Mang has been living in the fringes off society after an accident killed his family. Why? It’s something you get to discover as you delve into the story. And Black Mark definitely has the makings of a great story–so long as you don’t get turned off by an introduction that runs a little too long. An introduction that didn’t feel necessary once the story actually got started.

Unlike the first two stories I’ve mentioned, Black Mark has a great handle on delivering information without taking us away from the action. That is, provided you don’t dwell on the introduction.

If there’s anything I want to ask for, it’s this: I wish the story was longer so we could have been more invested in our main character. But, hey, I could live with what we have.

Humanity

And so we arrive at the best story off of this batch of Mythspace stories.

Humanity focuses on two miners, slaves to an alien race–and slaves to hope. And even with art that really messes with your mind in trying to decipher who’s who, the story is strong enough to get its point across.

I like it so much that I’m actually at a loss as to what to say. So how shall I put this?

If you can only afford one out of the four Mythspace stories? Get this one.

Television: Aso ni San Roque, the Finale

It all began, simply enough, with a love story. Mateo, our male lead, is training to be a police officer when he meets the enigmatic Lualhati. They fall in love. And then, one night, Lualhati is taken from him by manananggals. Mateo is left for dead, but Lualhati is revealed to be a manananggal as well–one who is trying to escape her destiny.

What Lualhati didn’t know, then, was that during the short time she and Mateo were together, they had managed to create a child. Having not been turned into a full-fledged manananggal yet, Lualhati kept her pregnancy a secret. But she knows that, because manananggals feed on fetuses, she cannot hide her secret from the others for long. She plots to escape.

And so begins a journey that was prophecized to end with the death of all aswangs.

I am very fond of Aso ni San Roque, and not just because I’m part of the creative team. It might not seem like much, and I’m sure people will find a lot of fault with the series, but for me–it’s perfect.

Okay, maybe not perfect. I can nitpick with the best of them.

But after One True Love, this is the first project I’ve been part of where we were allowed to challenge the tropes–to turn the tried-and-tested twists around. One of which will happen this week, as the program comes to a close. We had good guys turn into conflicted villains, and then we had a villain who actually chose to help out the good guys–because it’s most beneficial to her, we had surprise characters that actually moved the story along–

And it’s not every day you can have an apocalypse in a Filipino soap opera.

Then there’s the challenges that the creative team (and the equally wonderful and hardworking production team) had to contend with: budget overshoots, bad weather, illness, etcetera. Story arcs had to be lengthened and shortened, new characters had to be added to the story to accommodate contractual obligations–every creative meeting had a new concern that needed addressing.

Aso ni San Roque is not perfect in anyway, and I don’t want to say it’s the best we could do. It’s not. But I’m still proud of the show we were able to produce–proud of what we were able to accomplish despite of the many challenges.

And because we pretty much were given free reign on how to wrap the show up, I’d recommend tuning in. It’s going to be one hell of a finale week.

Book: Skyworld, Volume Two

“The Queen of the Asuang and her legion have taken over the country.

Alexandra Trese leads the resistance along-side Makabo, a Tikbalang warrior, and Kaio, a Duwende trickster.

Trapped in their epic battle is Andoy, a teenage boy tasked with uniting an army of Tikbalang, Enkanto, Kapre and Duwende against the Asuang.

But before he can lead them, he must first recover a mystical sword that was once part of the fabled Yamashita Treasure.“

And so ends Skyworld.

Ultimately, I’m not a fan. The story is sound, the structure is good–but the overall product is not something I’d gush about. I’m not saying it’s not good. It is. But the story doesn’t deliver on the promise of the premise. As I feared.

My main problem with the story is its length. Because the whole thing is so short, we never really connect with any of the characters we’re supposed to care about. Maybe Alexandra, but that’s because we know her from another series. A better series. The others?

I’ve already finished the book and I still know nothing about main character Andoy–save for the fact that he’s the chosen one. Makabo and Kaio are supporting characters in the most basic sense. They support Andoy, and that’s pretty much it. There’s a hint of something more for Makabo, but that’s nipped in the bud even before it completely takes off.

And I’m not a fan of the ten-year time jump in between the two volumes. Number one, because it feels like a cop out–not knowing how to deal with a giant sea dragon rampaging across Metro Manila. Number two, because of Alexandra. Don’t tell me she never aged in the ten years between volumes.

To end, there are better re-imaginings and re-tellings of Filipino folklore availalbe out there. There’s the Trese series, there’s Naermyth, or maybe you know of another novel/comic series that I don’t.

But, to be fair, here are links to what other people have written about the series:
Literateknolohitura
The Birth of Damnation
The Comics Cube

Book: Skyworld, Volume One

“Every legend hides a lie.

A murdered Skygod re-emerges in modern-day Manila. A Tikbalang prince plots vengeance for the death of his father. And the Queen of the Asuang unleashes the mythical Bakunawa upon the streets of the city.

Caught in their age-old struggle is Andoy, a crippled orphan that discovers he is the fulfillment of a prophecy dating back to Lapu-Lapu himself.“

I liked it–and I don’t really know why.

I mean, it has the elements that I’m looking for in a fun story. There’s Filipino mythology, there’s action, and there’s a story-arc that runs deeper than it looks.

But even though I did say that I liked it, there’s still something missing. For a “volume one” it barely scratches the surface of a bigger story. And considering the fact that there are only two volumes, I am afraid for what the second volume contains. I’m hoping it’s not a cop out. I’m hoping there’s a better story. I’m hoping that it accomplishes the promise of the first volume.

Would I recommend it though? Get back to me when I read and write about the second volume.

Book: Mythspace Lift Off

“Kapre. Nuno. Manananggal. They are monsters of the past, remnants of primitive fantasies. UFOs. Aliens. Extraterrestrials. They are hallucinations, creations of modern science fiction. Or are they?

Evidence unearthed is debunked… or disappears. Witnesses who speak are ridiculed… or silenced. We are alone, say our leaders.

There are no Manananggal that consume our children. There are no Kapres who watch in the night. There are no aliens that abduct our neighbors. There are no UFOs with dazzling lights.

We were never alone.

These are not your Lola’s monsters. There are not your children’s aliens.

They are one and the same.

They are here.“

Interesting premise: Filipino mythology as aliens instead of supernatural beings. It’s a novel idea. But the stories so far don’t give us a lot to go on.

In the maiden issue of the series, we get two stories and a whole bunch of extras.

I’m not going to talk about the extras yet as I don’t really know what they’re for. I’m not invested on the series yet for me to care about them. The stories though… The stories are a different matter.

In the first story we get, it’s the first time we learn that in this world the supernatural exists. Except they’re not supernatural–they’re extraterrestrial. And that’s a cool concept. It is. Unfortunately, it’s just a concept.

We get a main character with a lot of angst. And I believe that he can be a great hook for this particular story thread in Mythspace. Except, while we do understand where he’s coming from and his angst, his goal isn’t as clear.

There’s a desire to prove to naysayers that his family was right in believing in Kapres and the likes. But by episode’s end, he is already plucked his normal life that you don’t really know where he’s going next.

Honestly thought, what I really can’t latch on to here is the art. It’s not a fault of the storyteller or the artist, I’m just not a fan of this kind of art. I prefer the clean lines of the other story thread–with the manananggals.

But while I do like the art, I’m a bit worried about where the story is going. From the glimpse given us by the Lift Off issue, this other story is giving me a Cat’s Trail vibe–and not much else. I find myself not really caring about the characters–just the really pretty drawings.

So what am I saying?

I’m saying the Lift Off issue of Mythspace shows great promise–but it’s gonna take a couple more issues to see if it’s a title I want to stick with.

Other people have other views though, so let’s check out what they have to say:
One More Page
Jumper Cable
Crime-Fighting Call Center Agents