Preview by Marvel: The Hood’s crime organization has infected the entire world, and nowhere is it more prevalent than the streets of New York where, hidden within the decaying husks of abandoned buildings, the Hood has built his secret empire out of everyone’s sight including Osborn’s. Castle is the one man standing between the new kingpin of crime and total domination, but in order to save his home from the decay and corruption, The Punisher will first have to survive the rage of The Deadly Dozen!(?)

It may sounds funny but the term created by Aaron -  ’Ghost Rider Survival Squad’ - might be appropriate enough how desperate are the last remaining spirits of vengeance who stand united against the vigilant Danny Ketch. The first half of this book is quite directive with flameheads clash. The urge look of the characters especially the Japanese spirit of vengeance, make it visually interesting, but it is not much more than an extended series of fight between the red and blue flames. Seriously, I am still thinking who’s behind the idea of creating this Japanese Rider who looks quite similar to Kaneda of Otomo Katsuhiro’s great Akira. Aaron or Huat?

Nowadays, there is a trend in the US mainstream comics in taking popular characters and rebrand  them with fresh and differentiated representation that seems to excite fans constantly without fail. This series is not to be excluded. Within Aaron’s mould, Ghost Rider has transformed from a tepid, light-horror road story into a twisted, mythic, grindhouse opera, thanks to the Tan Eng Huat’s artwork strokes.

Tan Eng Huat might not draw comics that look like the rest of the Marvel line, but Ghost Rider shouldn’t be so American at all time. A critic mentioned that Huat is like Mike Mignola brewed with Kevin O’Neill, which ultimately makes Ghost Rider look like a Hellboy spliced with LXG. Frankly speaking, I do love Jose Villarubia’s choice of tones, and it works perfectly well with Huat’s pencilling and inking.

Johnny Blaze and the new nun-turns-Caretaker, together with the Asian flamehead allies are on some sightseeing journeys through out the world in search of the remaining few Riders. Regardless whether they’re actually riding or not, this alliance hopes they may reach these clueless Riders before Danny Ketch. This issue is actually the first time we catch a good glimpse of Zadkiel and his ongoing war against Heaven armies, which does not interest me much. If Ghost Riders’ beliefs may be integrated one to another, Taoism to Christianity to Islam to Buddhism, why not the the Heaven’s armies? Shouldn’t they consist of various believers too? This book may be classified as Parental Advisory item, but the way I see this one, it’s so Christian. On a second thought, I think Aaron should have done proper homework before integrating the Riders’ beliefs.

Some may say that Huat seems to have settled in with the characters flawlessly, and Johnny Blaze is now in the hand of the right creative team. But I lightly doubt that as Huat will be only riding on the flameheads up to issue #32.

This third book of Street Fighter 2 Turbo series close up the year 2008 with nice action-packed stories. The front part of the book describes how Fei Long’s passion changed as time goes by with respect to his difficulties in maintaining life. Street Fighter Tournament as expected, gives him the opportunity to at least honor the fighting arts instilled by his master if it could not salvage his mistake in directing life - leaving his passion.

Preliminary battle starts in Hong Kong!

The story starts with an immediate round for the first slot to Street Fighter finale. As expected, I like Cruz’s version of Adon than Alvin’s Muay Thai bloke. It is exciting to know that Dhalsim’s Katon ball is actually an illusion. It is quite funny to see Sagat acting calmly on the hierarchic seat as one of Bison’s highest subordinates. As the first part focus is mainly on Fei Long, the same goes with the preliminary rounds. All his open fight opponents which consists of the “Storm” grandma, the guillotine old freak, a black nin, a drunken master (Jackie??) and a Jet-Li wannabe are easily downed by his single shots. This episode ends with Chun-Li is well prepared for the open fight with opponents which some fans may refer them as the human version of Furious 5.

Cruz and Siu-Chong have done very well in shifting the Fei Long’s wandering story to the intense fights which sandwiched some plots of escaping Cammy White. As she possesses the same trait as Bison, the location of Delta Red is easily known. It’s just a matter of time for Cammy to retained her teammates back.

The back-up story of El Fuerte by Joe Ng is exciting me, getting to know that he is the die-hard fan of Street Fighter Alpha’s Mika! Although the shots are focused only in the Mexican cafe, Joe Ng managed to further his improvements and get it done well. Surely these back-up stories of Street Fighter IV are the best media for him to excel in his very first art on Street Fighter IV which is commencing this February. Certainly a nice Valentine gift for me! LOL

Coming this January is the most -awaited Street Fighter book this year - Street Fighter Legends: Chun-Li. The first issue by Siu-Chong and Omar Dogan is going to be an interesting one, not only for Chun-Li’s die-hards, but also cinema dashers as the Street Fighter motion picture of Chun-Li starred by Kristin Kreuk will be featured soon.

Buy Street Fighter 2 Turbo #3B comic book

Lantern Ketupat

Ketupat is a kind of dumpling from South East Asia, made from rice that has been wrapped in a woven pouch from leaves which is then boiled. It is known by the name Patupat in Kapampangan, Puso in Cebuano and Ta’mu in Tausug dialect . As the rice boiled by routine, the grains expand to fill the pouch tightly which ultimately becomes compressed. This gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture of a white rice dumpling.

Woven Mat Ketupat

Ketupat is usually eaten with dry beef or chicken curry called rendang or served to complement satay - signature dish of Malaysian Airlines. Ketupat is also occassionally served by Indonesian, Moro, Bruneian, Singaporean and Malaysian Muslims on festives such as Idul Fitri or alternatively Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

During Idul Fitri in Indonesia, ketupat is often served with chicken curry, accompanied with spicy soy powder, while Malaysians served them with peanut sauce as condiment. Among Filipinos, puso is also traditionally used as a pabaon or a mobile meal, traditionally brought by workers as a type of packed lunch, served with any selection of stews.

Cow Ketupat

There are many varieties of ketupat, with two of the more common ones being ketupat nasi and ketupat pulut. Ketupat nasi is made from white rice and is wrapped in a square shape with coconut palm leaves while ketupat pulut is made from glutinous rice is usually wrapped in a triangular shape using the leaves of the fan palm (Licuala). Ketupat pulut is also called ketupat palas in Malaysia. In Indonesia, ketupat sometimes boiled in thin coconut milk and spices to enhance the taste.

             

Drumstick Ketupat

Local stories passed down through the generations have attributed the creation of this style of rice preparation to the seafarers’ need to keep cooked rice from spoiling during long sea voyages. The coconut palm leaves used in wrapping the rice are always shaped into a triangular form and stored hanging in bunches in the open air. The shape of the package facilitates moisture to drip away from the cooked rice while the coconut palm leaves allow the rice to be aerated and at the same time prevent flies and insects from touching it.

Here are 5 types of ketupat you would not find anywhere in the world but here…

Star Ketupat

 

 

In person with Tan Eng Huat

The cover story is one of the most looked for - at least for me. This thorough interview on Tan Eng Huat @ Kutu (Tick) on his artworks provide best option for his fans to develop perception. Initiating his international debut on Doom Patrol, the 35-year-old family man share his chronology of career and some stories behind his way of work. The ink washing technique and his close contact with comic teammate describe the Eisner Award nominee’s output. Some interesting issues on his artwork in Silver Surfer: In Thy Name and the currently involved Ghost Rider are highlighted as well.

Benjamin Zhang of the China’s People Republic

He is a manhwa artist from the China mainland. Looking at his artworks, I am eager to witness how did he produced traditional look masterpieces using Photoshop. I wonder if I could ever see him doing some cover arts for west market. For sure it will be refreshing new looks of Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Joker, Poison Ivy or even monstrous characters such as Venom or Akuma of Street Fighter. Thanks to this comic art issue, people get to know in person on Ben since his blog is only translated in Mandarin while his fans whereabouts are borderless. Hopefully there will be the English version of it.

POPCORN™ is also serving some one-shots by Leong Wan Kok as well two other local talents nicknamed Puppeteer and Redcode. Artworks featured in this book include pieces by Benjamin Chan, Luciole Loong, David Wang, Aadi Salman of Devil’s Due Publishing, Kaoru, Imaginary Friends Studio (IFS) of Singapore as well as Baba Chuah who had contributed an art for Dark Horse Comics long ago. For the next issue, I am expecting more coverage and interviews on regional talents such as Chee of IDW Publishing as well as IFS guys such as Admira Widjaya of Indonesia and Yazid of Kuala Lumpur. This first issue is obtainable from Gempakstarz.com for USD10.90.

Under independent organisation, the festival is sponsored by various multi-nationals such as Hewlett Packard, anime premier channel Animax and processor manufacturer AMD. Almost 150 freelance and professional artist booths will be available to serve fans. Among them are Malaysian well-known comic magazine Gempak artists and gentlemen from Imaginary Friends Studio (IFS) of Singapore. Some of the sub events featured during the 2-day fiesta are cosplay competition, autograph sessions, doujin competition, stage performances, as well as art demonstration and workshop by Animasia, Gempak, The One Academy and IFS artists.

Steve Niles is well known as the writer who brought horror elements into comic arena, and I agree with the statement after reading his widely publicisized 30 Days of Night although some claimed that Niles has his fair share of misses. Interestingly, this third title produced by the multi-media - Radical Comics, is another impressive debut in both story and art. Radical Comics had previously published Caliber (Sam Sarkar & Garrie Gastonny) and Hercules (Steve Moore & Admira Wijaya).

Steve Niles’s Magic Dust through Philip Krome!

City of Dust #1 Cover A

The plot takes place in a Bradburian nightmare surroundings where books are outlawed along with all form of creative thought. A world not that different from today where art programs are disappearing with more frequency from schools and corruption within the church casts a deep destruction on today’s society. Phillip Khrome is Niles’s hard nosed detective for the story’s main player. He’s a guy plagued by guilt from his childhood when he told his teacher about a bedtime story of his father.  Amazingly, it caused swift action which ultimately disallowed Khrome from meeting his father again. Now Khrome tracks offenders of the crime his father was accused of; arresting people for praying, reading, or using their right brain at all.

Zid of Imaginary Friends Studio

Setting this story in the future environment opens up all ways of possibility for Niles to venture through. The fusion of horror and noir elements that placed in a futuristic surroundings is the one expected from Steve Niles. There’s an especially effective scene in issue one that tells a lot about the environment. The storyline is placed in where Khrome’s literal-minded tech-bots come across a dead body that deflect all types of forensic detection. Khrome is forced to think outside the freaking mind-isolated society that has built around everyone as well in order to tackle the case. The mystery has only begun. But as Khrome finds a book of monsters, it appears Niles is going to demonstrate that a literal world overlooks a lot of important and dangerous things.

The art by Zid or his real name as Mohammad Yazid Kamal Bahrain is simply well done. He paints what he pencilled which makes his artworks well illustrated. The panels are angular and varied, given that Zid is purely art-directed instead of discretely storyline-oriented. This 24-year old bloke of MARA University of Technology (UiTM) had given his best shot for the golden opportunity to work with Niles.

Khrome is another interesting character by Niles, who is fast becoming one of the lead noir writers as well, as seen in Criminal Macabre of Dark Horse Comics and Dead She Said of IDW Publishing. Here, Niles puts a new interesting spin on the detective genre of science fiction.

Buy City of Dust #1D comic book

This comic proves that Niles’s strength lies outside of the mainstream as well. He’s treading through familiar territory with the detective noir and the horror, but putting a fresh new spin on it by plopping it firmly into sci fi territory. I wonder how futuristic the classic monsters would be and what kind of bumps Phillip Khrome would encounter under Niles’s idea commands.

Buy City of Dust #1E comic book

Kampung Boy’s Lat contributed too!

Liquid City Vol. 1 Cover

From Leong Wan Kok’s distinct post apocalyptic landscapes and alien creatures to Datuk Khalid or Lat’s charming look back at  Malaysian life in the 1960s, from Mike Carey’s meditation on colonialism to Ken Foo’s dark visions of  regurgitations and bodily transformations, this comic anthology presents an edgy life vision in cities of past, present and future.

Also featured are works by Charlene Chua, Lefty,Jon Foster, Sonny Liew, Gerry Alanguilan, FSC, Koh Hong Teng, Drewscape, Kuanth,Thanh Phong, Troy Chin, Shari Chankhamma and many more.

28 Stories and Spreads!

25 stories were featured in this anthology which are Metamorphosis by Leong Wan Kok @ Puyuh, Noirstorborg by F. S. C., Otah Tree by Troy Chin, Food Kingdom by Kaoru, Malinky Robot: Stinky Fish Blues by Sonny Liew, Love Hurts by Gerry Alanguilan, The Chicken Licken Phenomenon by Chin Sau Lim, Bird Bird by kenfoo, Me and My Food by Shari Chankhamma, Alpha Gorilla by Otto Fong, Cube by Michael Chuah @ C2V, Rogue by Kuanth, Face by Mike Carey and Sonny Liew, The Pouch Puppeteer by Koh Hong Teng, The Trip by Datuk Khalid @ Lat, Eidolon by Charlene Chua and Wayne Santos, The Boy and The Paper Plane by Nguyen Thanh Phong, Exit by by Ho Seng Hui, No Matter… by Suttichart Sarapaiwanich, For Love by Lefty, Regrets by Koh Hong Teng, Harpy Lullaby by Hu Jingxuan, I Grew a Spaceship by Drewscape, Invasion by Leong Wan Kok and Bear Bear by kenfoo.

3 spreads were also featured in this artbook including Robot Parade by Jon Foster, Civil Wars by Ray Toh and Lava Man Invasion by Gary Choo. Cover art provided by Shelly Wan, I personally feel that this book is worthy for Southeast Asian comic fans since it compiles new and well-known artists mainly in this Asian region.

The second issue witnessed how the main casts prepare for the grand Street Fighter Tournament which organized by the Shadaloo. Continuing his adventures of experience gaining and training, Ryu’s haunted by his own self conflict depicting past, present and future, deep down in the snowy forest of Alaska. Thanks to one of Ken’s full bag of new skills, his mission to the tournament is nicely accelerated in good direction. Chun-li is training with Yun and Yang to improve her skills that she will soon need to fight her way through the tournament.

Psycho Drive eat an island!

This is the first book of Street Fighter series to show M.Bison’s true power which ultimately strengthen his mark as  a threat to the world.  In order to warn international military forces from interfering the tournament as well as marking the start of tournament, it’s more than enough for M.Bison to use up reflected Psycho Drive to abolish Vancouver Island of Canada. The last pages give you the new thrill and excitement as M.Bison directs Vega, Sagat and Balrog to supervise qualifying matches to be held up in Japan, Hong Kong and USA. Guess what, the venue in USA will be the Metro City, home of Final Fight Series, where a comic debutant of Street Fighter Alpha will heads up!

The story sets the mood for the beginning of the tournament comparing to the a reintroduction of the main characters in the last issue. My interest stuck on the back-up story of Abel as the first Street Fighter IV character to appear on comic. It’s a good appetizer before the real full issue commencing February next year, as we could also find out which Street Fighter character does Abel closely related t. Joe Ng’s art seems to be very much improved than his work in Street Fighter Remix one shot book.

I don’t know if others agree with me but I am kind of prefer Chamba’s artwork much more than Alvin’s. I do hope that he would improve more on his cute Chun-Li artwork as I am expecting our  greatest lady fighter to be sexier, at least more than Cammy. Chamba’s art on the fight between Evil Ryu and Ken is good especially on a near one page panel where we witness the Shoryu Reppa for the first time in the Comic.

The back-up story was illustrated by Joe Ng, the one who is going to pencil Street Fighter IV scheduled to be published next year. Some claimed that Joe Ng Style is so close to Alvin Lee’s and Arnold Tsang’s style which I am partially agreed. Certainly I am looking forward to Street Fighter IV comic series next year!

Buy Street Fighter 2 Turbo #2B comic book

The issue starts with some flashbacks on the relationship between Danny Ketch and Johnny Blaze on the history of Blaze and Ketch’s relationship. Two flame heads, the red flame and the blue flame battle in a way which claimed to be too well organized. The fight takes turn one to another, making it looks like a neat war in 1700s, taking scenes from the picture Patriot starred by Mel Gibson. I think if Danny’s the one who initiate the penance attack, I doubt that our new Caretaker could make a save in time.

Danny Ketch’s Spirit of Vengeance thirsts for the rest of the Spirits!

Having noticed that the spirit of vengeance holds as a weapon of heaven bonded to him by the renegade angel, Johnny Blaze travels to the mountains of Tibet by just walking out of a door to exact his revenge. Zadkiel who had enjoyed himself on the dead Caretaker is busy preparing to overthrow throne of Heaven on the other way round. He then discovers that there are many different versions of Ghost Riders all over the world through the former nun as well. The death of horse-riding Tibetan ghost rider in return gives a hint that these Ghost Riders are actively on pursue by Danny Ketch who is now Zadkiel’s important pawn.

Newly introduced Ghost Riders might join Blaze!

The finishing page suddenly steer up my excitement for the next issue. The storyline is not linearly walk through the Ghost Rider past stories, but Aaron’s idea of spreading it globally is something that out of box in my thought. I have seen the Tibetan Ghost Rider including his demise in the previous book, which initially made me doubted whether we could witness other international Ghost Riders in action. The ambush of two Ghost Riders then opens up another interesting thoughts within me for at least there are Spirits of Vengeance that share the same direction as Johnny Blaze’s, though they might not be a perfect support against Ketch and Zadkiel.

Huat and Villarrubia’s art is as gorgeous as they worked on Silver Surfer,  maintaining a sense of urgency and movement if not much, even though most of the fight sequence is limited to five panels per page. I adore the design of characters, page and panel layouts, good enough to heat up Ol’ Flamehead’s fans on this first round of duel. Let’s just wait and see what these Taliban-wannabe and lady flameheads got to offer. On the other hand, the cover art by Marko Djurdjevic is severly sick! He’s totally up to my favorite illustrator’s list.