Filipino Heroes League Review

Komik name: The Filipino Heroes League, Book 1: Stick and Stones
Author: Paolo Fabregas
ISBN: 971-0545-04-3
Format: Paperback, 135 pages
Price: P180, Free to borrow if you're a friend
Bought from: Fully Booked
Back-of-the-book-synopsis:
Undermanned and under-funded, the Filipino Heroes League does what it can to fight against injustice.
It's tough being a superhero but its even tougher being a third-world superhero.

Review:

I've ruminated not too long ago about the difficulty of writing superheroes in a Filipino setting because of the real problems they would have to face. Writer-Artist Paolo Fabregas finds a really plausible solution to the problem, that's both sensible and completely entertaining.

-Gerry Alanguilan 

That it. That's my review. In the words of the author of Elmer.
Hmm...I feel like I cheated you.
Very well.

What I love about this book is how Mr. Fabregas mixed the real world issues of our country and the superhero genre. Corruption, brain drain, etc., all tackled in the story while still being entertaining to read and not all too preachy. For example, the comic book started with a Filipino news caster proudly reporting about how a certain Filipino superhero called "Bomb Boy" became the sidekick of "The Great American" and helped him capture terrorists while our local superheroes lament at the lack of mention of their good deeds. Doesn't that sound familiar? So Filipino. It is the story of our country; disguised as a superhero comic book.

Unlike many superhero comics, FHL's story is plot-driven. It means that the characters are not the focus but pawns in a big battle on a chess board that you're overseeing. The downside of this is if it isn't handled carefully, you'll end up with two-dimensional main characters because you'll need to flesh out the events rather than the development of the characters. Sadly, FHL suffers from this.

Let's talk about the powers of the main characters for a second. It's a bit generic. There's super speed, invisibility, telepathy, slick(???), technology manipulation(but it needs to be a trash first), and flash bomb(???). They seem completely not that powerful and non-lethal. But what's awesome about it is they make up for it with their resourcefulness. I think that's very Filipino.

Other nit-picky thingos:

• The overall plot is a bit predictable at first but maybe that's a problem with me. It's very fun though.
• The pacing is okay. 
• The art is great and the action scenes are clear enough to follow. Which is good for a superhero comic book.
• The dialogues are good. It elicited laughs at places where I know I should laugh. 
• The placing of the speech balloons though is not great. There are times where it's a bit hard to follow
• The paneling needs work because it's not smooth reading for me.

Overall, I enjoyed reading it. This is a thoroughly Filipino comic book and a must have for a Filipino comic book collector. BUY IT!

P.S. I tried not discussing what happens inside because I want you to buy it and discover the story yourself.

Here we go...

Hullo!

Welcome to Pan de Piksyon.
(It's a pun. I'll let that sink in first.)
(Did you get it? No? Okay. Moving on.)

This is a blog about my thoughts on certain works of fiction made by Filipinos.

FAQ

1. WTF is this?
Dude, read the sentence above.

2. Why Filipino Fiction?
Why not? I'm a Filipino. I want the readers of my blog to be aware that Filipinos write some sweet shit too.

3. What do you mean by "certain works of fiction"? Are you going to review Filipino TV shows too?
I'm only going to review comic books, novels, anthologies, short stories, etc. In short, I will only focus on written works because these are criminally overlooked and underrated. TV shows are mainstream and a lot of Filipinos watch TV. I don't though. As to why, I'll make a post about it later.

4. Your whole idea sounds very patriotic so why not go all the way? Why not write in Filipino?
First, I also want foreigners to read this. I want to showcase Filipino fiction to the whole world.
Second, I'm bad at writing in Filipino. Okay, I'm not that bad but I'm more confident at writing in English than in Filipino. I can string more coherent sentence in English than in Filipino. But I'm going to include some Filipinos words now and then with translation beside it.

5. Your grammar sucks.
This is not a question but it begs to be answered. I admit that I will commit some grammatical error. I'm not a native English speaker. It's been 5 years since I last opened an English grammar book. I erased some of the rules of English grammar in my mind nipa hut (plus points to the people who can get the reference) to give way to some engineering theories and shit(which I can't use now). I also have this problem where I skip words because my typing cannot keep up with my thoughts. But I'm going to try my best so please be patient with me.

6. How often are you going to update?
As much as possible. I will write if I have the time. I'm a college student so I need to study too. However, I am certain that I will post a review of a Filipino graphic novel every month because it's my personal project this year. It's like those 365 days project but mine is per month.

7. What gives you the right to review literary works? Are some kind of an English teacher? Do you have experience with this?
Woah. Slow down there, cowboy. Erm...no, I'm not an English teacher. I'm not really doing an in-depth review but just sharing my thoughts on these things that I will read. Plus, everyone can write a blog these days, right? This is the internet! Everyone has an opinion!
Anyways, I've been reading things since I first learned to. I've read thousands of manga and hundreds of novels. I've also taken some classes on creative writing. I've read a lot of how-to-write novels/comics. Heck, I've written shit tons of things that only my sister read. So yeah, I have some ideas on how things should be.

8. Why are you doing this?
First, I'm a Filipino. End of.
Second, I've noticed that I'm wasting precious free time stalk-...I mean fangirling on Benedict Cumberbatch. I love the man and I know he's not going to approve on what I'm doing. He's a paragon of loving your life and living it to the fullest. I envy him but I haven't decided on what to do with my life yet. So I spend a lot of time on the internet(I literally eat and sleep with my computer) admiring his accomplishments while being very unproductive. I thought I should change that. I decided to write about something that I like and share it to the whole world. I like stories and love my country so there. (I'm pretty much babbling.)
Third, I want to encourage Filipinos to read. I once read an article from Rappler titled, "Filipinos don't read." It's partly true. Some do and there are others who only do this because it makes one looks "sosyal"(I don't know how to explain this.) More about my thoughts on this later. I'll make a separate post. Anyways, I'm hoping this blog will make people pick up books.
Lastly, I want to raise awareness about Filipino fiction. As I may have said above, it is very underrated and always overlooked. Story time! I once brought with me a copy of Filipino Heroes League in class. A classmate of mine saw me reading and said to me, "Ang corny niyan"(That's corny). I asked him if he has read it. He said no. YOU SEE?! I know I shouldn't generalize but if that kind of thinking exist, there must be more of them.

There ends my FAQ. (I'm a humorless berk so sorry if that's so boring. :D)

For my pet project, "Buwanang Pinoy komiks"(Monthly Filipino Comics), the January post will be about the graphic novel "The Filipino Heroes League Book 1: Stick and Stones". I've already bought a copy and have read it; I only need to write the review. I do not know when that will be up but I'll make sure I'll post it before January ends.

Salamat sa pagbabasa!
(Thank you for reading!)