Saturday, October 26, 2019

Old Man Logan

Old Man Logan
By Jonathan Aquino

Saturday Stories
October 26, 2019

I

I think "Logan" is the second greatest superhero movie of all time. There is a scene where Charles Xavier – Professor X – suffered a brain seizure. Since he was the most powerful telepath in the world, everybody around him could die. It seems the professor killed all the X-Men when he had an attack.

II

Yet in the eight-edition comic series "Wolverine: Old Man Logan" by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven – which inspired the movie – it was Wolverine who killed them while he was under a spell by Mysterio, the same villain in "Spider-Man: Far From Home." This left him emotionally and psychologically damaged.

III

The supervillains had conquered and divided the United States. Red Skull is now the President, while Magneto, Abomination and Doctor Doom have their own territories. Magneto would later be killed by Kingpin, and Abomination would be defeated by Hulk. The Avengers, except two, are all dead. 

IV

Our story begins after all of these. Logan has retired and became a farmer, but he was being harassed by the Hulk Gang, the grandchildren of Bruce Banner and She-Hulk. Then came Hawkeye, but he is now blind. He knows Logan needs money, so he offers him a job to accompany him on a deadly roadtrip. 

Photo courtesy of ComicBookRealm

Saturday, October 19, 2019

John Constantine, Hellblazer



John Constantine, Hellblazer
By Jonathan Aquino

Saturday Stories
October 19, 2019

In 1999 before working in South Korean school as a teacher, I was already an English tutor for Koreans. I had a friend who had many pupils and he gave me some, which was good for both of us. He would conduct his classes in his condominium in Pasay, and I would be at the KFC at the corner of F.B. Harrison and Vito Cruz.

That area has a lot of good memories. I was always carrying a sketchpad, and I would draw at the nearby Cultural Center of the Philippines complex and at the Baywalk. Another favorite hang-out was the National Bookstore at SM Harrison Plaza where I would always read the John Constantine "Hellblazer" graphic novels.

John Constantine is a detective with occult powers, and evil spirits hate him. But he might be dead before they get to him because he has lung cancer, and he would be dying anyway. The "Constantine" TV series got the character right, but the film version with Keanu Reeves which had nothing in common with the source material.

And I just came across the first issue of "John Constantine, Hellblazer," after all these years. Constantine fights the hunger demon Mnemoth, who makes people eat voraciously as they slowly die. His friend Gary Lester exorcised it from a slave in Tangiers, but the demon controlled his mind, and so he bought it to England

Photo courtesy of MyComicShop

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Batman: The Killing Joke


 

Batman: The Killing Joke
By Jonathan Aquino

Saturday Stories
October 12, 2019

I

In Todd Phillips' "Joker," Arthur Fleck is a man with mental issues, with an amazing portrayal by Joaquin Phoenix. It is inspired by Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and "Batman: The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

II

Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" was also inspired by "The Killing Joke." In my opinion, this is the greatest superhero movie of all time, with Heath Ledger's Joker as one of the best acting performances in screen history.  

III

Still another inspiration for Nolan's film was Michael Mann's "Heat," with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The comic story even has an animated movie version where Joker was voiced by Mark Hamill – Luke Skywalker. 

IV

The graphic novel is a reimagined origin story of the Joker. It began with Batman going to Joker's cell at Arkham – but it was not him. The real Joker had escaped. He then bought a carnival, and killed Barbara Gordon – Batgirl.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Saturday, October 05, 2019

The Rosales Saga



The Rosales Saga
By Jonathan Aquino

Saturday Stories
October 5, 2019

I

I grew up in Antipolo, a town in Rizal Province about seventeen kilometers from Manila. Our house – in the middle of the street – was in a new suburban area (called a "subdivision") so there were few houses back then. When I peer out the gate or above our high walls, all I could see was trees and grass. I wasn't allowed to go out but we had a big garden and an even bigger backyard, and I had a dog named Hutch so I was fine. There was a talisay tree out front, and more trees at the back – mango, avocado, santol. The avocado tree was slanted, almost uprooted from a storm, and that was the easiest to climb. 

II

All these came back when I read "Don Vicente" by F. Sionil Jose, National Artist For Literature. I'm not a sentimental person by nature, but I do have so many wonderful memories. I'm blessed to have a happy and prosperous childhood, like the narrator who also lived in a big house surrounded by nature. I once told a friend that I like to go to hills overlooking whole villages, ride a carabao though rice fields, and swim in a flowing river where women are washing their clothes at the banks. My friend said those days are gone now, but this is how I see Rosales in Pangasinan before the war. 

III

I've seen the great writer F. Sionil Jose in person. I was at his bookstore Solaridad on Padre Faura Street in Manila years back, just browsing. He came out from the back and stood on the counter. I was four feet away. I have creds because my first short story was just then published in Philippine Graphic and I had just sent a manuscript to Philippines Free Press, but I was too shy to approach. I'm a great fan, and I admire him for his novels, especially his masterpiece, the five-book Rosales saga – Po-on, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner; The Pretenders and Mass. The story of the two-novel "Don Vicente" is Tree and My Brother, My Executioner.

IV

The story of "Tree" begins when the unnamed narrator was still a young boy. He was the only son of a wealthy landlord, Don Espiridion, who is also the right-hand man of the richest man in Rosales, Don Vicente Asperri. They own the land, and the farmers, known as tenants, would pay them to plant and gather the harvest. They have many servants, mostly the children of the tenants who are unable to pay them back. A man named Baldo tried to change the situation, but he lost, and he died. My favorite scene is when the boy and his grandfather, the beloved former gobernadorcillo, went to the fields in Carmay after the harvest. "Boy, the silence of a field can give a man beautiful thoughts," Grandfather said on the day he died peacefully. "Here, more than anyplace, you are nearer God."

Narrator – Daniel Padilla/ Nash Aguas
Teresita – Kathryn Bernardo
Father – Robert Arevalo
Grandfather – Tony Mabesa
Old David – Dante Rivero
Don Vicente – Ronaldo Valdez
Baldo – Coco Martin
Pedring – Jericho Rosales
Clarissa – Kristine Hermosa
Marcelo – Cesar Montano
Benito – Eddie Mesa
Padre Andong – Jaime Fabregas
Doro – Noel Trinidad
Antonia – Celia Rodriguez
Sepa – Caridad Sanchez
Angel – Vandolph
Ludovico – Yul Servo
Andring – Baron Geisler
Martina – Alessandra De Rossi
Nimia – Dina Bonnevie
Ms. Santillian – Bea Alonzo
Mr. Sanchez – John Lloyd Cruz
Feliza – Irma Adlawan 
Father's mistress – Tessie Tomas
Hilda's father – Menggie Cobarubias
Ludovico's father – Bodjie Pascua
Angels mother – Gina PareƱo 
Angel's father – Pen Medina
Chan Hai – Tsing Tong Tsai

Photo courtesy of Amazon