Star Wars Saturday at Promenade, Greenhills.

Attended Star Wars Saturday, an event organized by Filbar's and The Alliance of the country's pop culture stores held at the Promenade Hall at Promenade, Greenhills. There was that special screening for fans of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and more side-events that you can shake a light saber at. Really grateful for events like this because the specialty stores know how to make their fans happy. So muchos gracias to the kind folks who put this together.

Watched Star Wars when it was first shown in Manila in June of 1977 at the old Rizal Theater in Makati (now part of Greenbelt). Been a fan of the franchise ever since buying the novels, comics, DVDs, and merchandise.

My fave film of the lot? Episode IV.

My fave Star Wars character? Han Solo.

There were several cake designs on display and I have to say that they sure were impressive. Hope to order at least one of them soon.

And to think I was going to enlist in the First Order... 

There was a signing for Darth Vader Annual #1 by superstar artist Leinil Yu! Happy to get my copy signed!

With Jacob Cabochan, owner of Filbar's! He's in his impressive Jedi costume.  Cool dude.

My loot from Filbar's: Light Saber (the one with Anakin on it), Finn bobblehead, Marvel Comics Star Wars comics line preview, Star Wars fan, and First Order Stormtrooper standee.

With Rebekah Ilo who picked up some of my comics!

With Rebekah, a student from JRU, who got some of my comics!

You may call me... Darth Rick!

Harrow County is a frightening read

Harrow County is a frightening read

by rick olivares

“If it’s not too much to ask for… I wouldn’t mind having a normal life every now and then. Says the girl who is having a conversation with a dead boy’s skin.”

Writer Cullen Bunn sure knows how to grab your attention with ingenious writing. And Harrow County (Dark Horse Comics) is one hauntingly beautiful yet creepy read. 

Harrow County tells the story of Emmy, a girl who was born on the day the people of Harrow County hung, stabbed, shot, and burned the witch Hester Beck who vowed her vengeful return someday. The odd thing is Emmy, wasn’t born naturally but was unearthed from the very tree where Beck was killed. She is given to her foster father Isaac for care and close watching with the entire community on the edge should she manifest signs of witchcraft. Eventually, she does 18 years later after Emmy heals a sick calf. And that is when the trouble starts. 

The genius of Harrow County is the conflicted characters. Emmy claims not to be Hester Beck or evil. Twice thus far (in the eight issues published), she reiterates this. The first is in issue three where she warns, “I am not some monster. But I can be.”

And reading that and watching her vaporize some folks who attack her, you wonder, does she mean that or is she trying to convince herself of that? And that is the rub.

There’s her foster father Isaac who at first tries to murder her when he believes her to be the reincarnation of Beck, and there are the various haints (a Southern American term for ghouls) who populate basements, cupboards, and barns not to mention the forest. And perhaps pervertedly, these creatures are both frightening but also intriguing in a Pottersque way.

We are treated into the twisted mirror version of Emmy when her “sister” Kammi makes a shocking and surprise appearance in #5. You know the saying, “you are your own worst enemy?” Well, Kammi embraces the dark side and rallies to her cause the malevolent haints and spirits of Harrow County. I wish though that this story arc, essentially the second in the series, lasted several issues longer. Its climax, much like the Battle of Hogwarts except this takes place in the woods of Harrow County is all too brief. 

It’s a minor gripe that does not one bit make reading Harrow County any less enjoyable.

Bunn first came to my attention with Western horror series, The Sixth Gun, from Oni Press. I thought that the first 20 or so issues of that series (they are now just waiting for the last issue, #49 to come out) were nothing short of brilliant for its unique setting, its engaging writing, and interesting characters. That story was set in the post-US Civil War south where a dead Confederate General returns to life and seeks to gather six guns of wicked and terrible power. Except some of the guns have their own protectors who look to prevent the forces of evil from gathering these weapons of mass destruction to usher in the apocalypse. 

I backtracked and picked up some of Bunn’s earlier independent works including the critically acclaimed The Damned. With every series that Bunn wrote, he topped the previous effort. And that means Harrow County (already praised by many of the top writers in the comic book industry including Mike Mignola whose Hellboy is one of the all-time best horror comics, Jeff Lemire, Mark Millar, and Kurt Busiek to name a few) should more than make Trip Advisor’s top destinations for comic book reading.

What completes Harrow County as a masterpiece is artist Tyler Crook’s moody art and water colors that heighten the tension and the gloom of this county. I first saw his work in B.P.R.D. and the wonderful new take on vampire stories that is Bad Blood (written by Jonathan Maberry) and I thought that Crook has a gift for wonderful design that is at once, frightening. In my opinion, the folks who excel at that are few — Berni Wrightson, H.R. Giger, and Mike Mignola. Crook should be mentioned in any sentence with the four of them henceforth. I urge you to check out the time lapse video of Crook’s pencilling, inking, and painting a splash page of Harrow County #2 (on comicsalliance.com). It’s a thing of beauty that ends up terrifying. 

And that speaks for what this darn good comic book stands for.

Some stuff from my collection of Alfredo Alcala comics

With the re-issue of Secret Teaching of A Comic Book Master: The Art of Alfredo Alcala, it adds to my collection from this great artist. 

I value my copy of the extremely rare Voltar from Magic Carpet. As do I my copies of those The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian and Vampirella where Alcala drew everything (pencils and inks) that I have kept all these years. I also have about a dozen of his comics from his days in Marvel and DC. Voltar though is something special. Goes hand-in-hand with my collection of Prince Valiant. The Magic Carpet magazine features two stories drawn by Alcala: Voltar as written by Manuel Auad and "Bucacaneers of the Skull Planet" as penned by Bill Blackbeard.

Really love these old stuff. 

Vampirella #9 (September 1980) "Devil Woman" written by Don Glut

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #55 (August 1980) "Warrior and Wizard"  written by Roy Thomas

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #75 (April 1982) "Temple of the Twelve-Eyed Thing" written by Roy Thomas

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #80 (September 1982) "The Colossus of Argos" written by Michael Fleisher

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #83 (December 1982) "Devil in the Dark" written by Michael Fleisher

The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #89 (june 1983) "Gamesmen of Asalgun" written by Michael Fleisher

Other works from Filipino creators I am collecting: Alex Niño, Rafael Kayanan, Rudy Nebres, and Nestor Redondo. 

I have another The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian cover dated July 1993 that features a story drawn by Kayanan and written by Roy Thomas -- "The Gods Above; the Beasts Below."

Rocket Girl #7 : Great art but confusing and disappointing story

Terrific cover but as much as I love Rocket Girl, the comic suffers from poor plotting and pace. Still get it though. Maybe there's a chance the story will find some direction.

Rocket Girl started out with promise but now... the book is a classic case of poor writing but good art and that leaves me very unsatisfied. Quickly finished it then put inside the comic box. 

Dan Slott replies to my Nexus-Silver Surfer Tweet