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!(?)

The leading role of Sailor Moon is Usagi Tsukino, who lives as an ordinary middle school girl until she is found by a talking cat named Luna. Through Luna, Usagi learns that the world is about to be attacked by a Dark Kingdom that had appeared once before, long ago, and destroyed the kingdom of the moon. So that’s how the moon looks so ugly with thousands of craters, no? The Dark Kingdom’s artillery units must have produced excellent bombardment then. LoL!

Her dormant powers (alias Chakra, Qi, or the “others” type of power – which one?) are then awakened to defend the Earth against the coming invasion, and she is led to a number of friends who join her in the battle. When I was a kid, I seriously adored and loved Sailor Jupiter – the red headed chick in greenish costume.

Usagi fights using the unmasked identity of Sailor Moon, a superhero that can’t implement any kind of camouflage techniques at all, and as the story progresses she learns more and more about the enemies which face her and the evil force that is sending them. Gradually she discovers the truth about her own past life, and her destined true love – as usual girl stuffs. Personally, I feel that this pretty girl might be a good astronomer if she’s to retire from superhero industry since she had also discovered the possibilities for the future of the Solar System. New planet to replace Pluto, darl?

The plot spans five major story arcs, each of which is represented in both the manga and anime, usually under different names. These are the Dark Kingdom arc, the Black Moon arc (Sailor Moon R), the Infinity arc (Sailor Moon S), the Dream arc (Sailor Moon Supers), and the Stars arc (Sailor Stars). The anime series added an additional extra arc at the beginning of second season, and spent the early few episodes of Sailor Stars just to recap previous series.

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.

Han Solo is a character in the Star Wars universe. He was played by Harrison Ford in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The Star Wars Holiday Special, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Solo is introduced in A New Hope chapter as a roguish space smuggler who, through a twist of fate, becomes involved in the Rebel Alliance against the evil Galactic Empire. Over the course of this film and its sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Solo disguisely becomes a chief figure in the Alliance. George Lucas describes him as a lone ranger who realizes the importance of being part of a group and helping for the common good. Sounds to me as Solo is depicting Lucas’s trait. No? LOL

Chewbacca or Chewie is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. In terms of the series’ narrative chronology, he appears in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He was portrayed in all four films by British actor Peter Mayhew, wearing a suit; the voice was composed of recordings of different animals, mixed together. Poor Mr. Mayhew as people didn’t publicly know not only how the Chewbacca cosplayer looks like, but also how his voice sounds like!

A towering Wookiee who stands at 2.28 meters tall, he is best known as the first mate of Han Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falconin the original Star Wars trilogy.

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

In contrast with Cloud’s characteristics, Wind is very diplomatic and shows his empathy for everyone. As depicted by the author Ma Wing Shing, Wind is regarded as an eligible bachelor who is liked and admired by women for his gentleman attitude. He is illustrated as a handsome and kind young man. Nevertheless, Wind has also a tendency to rage as beast when provoked to his limit due to his Crazy Blood inheritance.

Wind is the only son of the Furious Blade of the North - Nip Yan Wong. When he was still very young, Wind’s mother left them for Po Kuan. As a result, Nip Yan Wong lost his sanity and lived a wandering life. Wind was frequently left to fend for himself for food, self-defense and shelter. He would constantly follow the deranged Nip Yan Wong where ever his father roamed and learn the martial arts of the Nip family, which included the Hing Gung and five of the techniques of The Supreme 6 Cold Stances indirectly from his father’s encounters with danger.

One day, Wind travelled with his father down south for a duel with Duen Sui. After some interruptions by the young Cloud and the emergence of the Fire Kirin that dragged Nip Yan Wong away, Wind and Duen Sui’s son, Duen Long fell into the river and were rescued by Hung Ba. Having found out about Wind’s name, Hung Ba immediately accepted Wind as his third disciple, alongside Frost and Cloud. Wind was Hung Ba’s second strongest disciple after Cloud. During his teenage years, Wind had already achieved at least 60% of the Wind God kick stance.

On Hung Ba’s command, the 17-year-old Wind managed to kill Du Gu Yi Fang - Lord of Peerless City and younger brother of the Sword Saint, who was much more skilled in martial arts than Wind and had been quantified by Hung Ba as having ten times the strength of Wind. It was revealed in Cloud’s point of view during the assassination when he tried to beat Wind to the assassination that Wind was under influence from the Crazy Blood which lent him the strength to accomplish the task to break through the city’s defence and make the kill, though it was later again revealed by Dai Yi Mong to Du Gu Mong, the daughter of Du Gu Yat Fong that the person in reality killed by Wind in the Peerless City was a martial artist who resembled Du Gu Yat Fong hired by the later to stand in for him as he attended the scheduled battle between Mou Ming and Po Kuan.

The real Du Gu Yat Fong would then be frozen to death and mummified with the other 11 swordsmen invited by Kim Hui, Po Kuan’s father and Mou Ming’s teacher. After successfully completing the mission in assassinating Du Gu Yi Fang, Hung Ba realised that he had underestimated Wind and began to regard Wind with much suspicion.

Hung Ba grew impatient waiting years for the second half of Mud Buddha’s prophecy. He sent Wind together with Frost to find the elusive Mud Buddha. During the trip escorting Mud Buddha back to Tin Ha Wui, an unknown man appeared and overwhelmed both Frost and Wind. As a result, the mysterious man successfully kidnapped Mud Buddha and his granddaughter and brought them to an isolated place. The mysterious man was actually none other than Hung Ba himself. He forced Mud Buddha to reveal the prophecy before killing them.

The second half of the prophecy implied that Hung Ba downfall would be caused by Wind and Cloud. Following this, Hung Ba created misunderstandings and friction between Wind and the teenage Cloud using the girl-servant Charity. Charity was married to Frost (Hung Ba’s first disciple) but had an affair with Cloud. Wind frequently reprimanded Cloud and was finally forced by Cloud into a duel upon catching Cloud in the act.

During the duel, Wind was almost hit by a strong palm stance by Cloud when Charity took the blow for Wind. Before dying, Charity revealed that despite married to Frost and the affair with Cloud, she actually loved Wind the most. The devastated Cloud refused to accept the fact and fled with Charity’s body. The rift between Wind and Cloud widened.

Like Cloud, Wind later became a fugitive of Tin Ha Wui. Hung Ba sent his team of twelve assassins after the two and they went their own ways into hiding. The two would later be reunited by Frost and told about the ultimate fate of Hung Ba that the later is destined to be defeated by the combined effort of Wind and Cloud. After being discovered by Hung Ba of their hiding place, Wind would later be blinded in his left eye by Hung Ba’s finger pierce attack when shielding Cloud from the attack and bringing a chance for the two to escape. Wind would later visit the cave where his father disappeared and learn the final sixth technique of learn The Supreme 6 Cold Stances and obtain his father’s Blizzard Sabre from where he hid it from Cloud when the later was tasked by Hung Ba to snatch the sabre from Wind and Nip Yan Wong. He also obtained the Kirin Seed fruit from the cave which he also gave some to Cloud which increased both of their strength and healed their body damage incurred by Hung Ba. Under the guidance of Mou Ming, Wind and Cloud learned the Mor Ho Mo Leung technique and defeated Hung Ba using the combination attacks from the technique.

After the defeat of Juet Mo Sunn, Wind hunted him into Japan but being followed by Mou Ming and Cloud and was kidnapped by Tin Wong, a Japanese warlord who despised Juet Mo Sun and with his knowledge of using shamanic medicine, kept Wind under control under the demonic influence. Wind was then tasked in the finding of the Imperial Dragon Bones which was revealed by Tin Wong as one of the sources of power of China’s Imperial foundation. Tin Wong’s party which comprised his two sons, a few  henchmen and Wind would later uncover the Dragon Bones’s location which was where his father Nip Yan Wong disappeared and went into hiding. Tin Wong’s men managed to subdue the Kirin Beast which attacked them when its lair was infiltrated. Tin Wong then landed a fatal blow to the beast, which crawled up to Wind’s feet to seek tranquility, as it shared the same blood with Wind. Because of the demonic personality, Wind unknowingly killed the beast without hesitation, much to the beast’s sadness and surprise. The party then managed to find the burial place for the Dragon Bones and were stopped by Nip Yan Wong and Duen Sui in an attempt to protect the Dragon Bones, but the two were then defeated by Tin Wong himself after the later’s younger son was killed in the battle. Suprisingly, behind the chaos, Wind snatched the Dragon Bones. Cloud who had also came into the middle of the battle with the Imperial forces including the emperor himself, gave chase to Wind after defeating Tin Wong’s self proclaimed perfect martial stance.

However due to the holy nature of the Dragon Bones, Wind’s demonic nature was subdued though he was more under the control of the demonic nature. Sometime later he stumbled back to the city steps and was found and nurtured by his martial brother Qin Shuang and new wife Ding Ning  in an attempt for him to recover from his demonic nature.This was when Duen Long was also looking for the Dragon Bones for his own lust for power. It culminated with Cloud, Duen Long and Wind fighting each other for the Dragon Bones. Cloud was trying to keep Duen Long from obtaining it, Duen Long was trying to snatch it from Nip Fung and Nip Fung was protecting the Dragon Bones from both as his demonic nature didn’t trust either person - looks like a triangular love crisis for me! The fight eventually led to a cliff where the three accidentally hit the Dragon Bones and shattered them. The Dragon Bones then released the holy power contained within and it merged with Wind and manifested the Kirin Demon. Wind/Kirin Demon (the first, not to be confused with Duen Long’s later self) would then defeat Duen Long and vanish for seven days.

During the time, Dai Yat Xie Wong began to theorise the Kirin Demon’s path. He noted that according to legend, the Kirin Demon would attempt to rid himself of all humanly possession and ascend into full demonhood, and by that time, Wind would be totally invincible and be undefeatable. Dai Yat Xie Wong, Dai Yi Dou Wong, Dai San Zheu Wong, Cloud, Nip Yan Wong and Duen Sui then formed a six man band to stop Wind. At first, they managed to wound Wind though he escaped after surviving Xie Wong’s desperado attack and thus killing him. Cloud gave chase up to a cliff and fought in an intense battle which ended when Cloud shattered Wind’s Snow Drinking Sabre in an attempt by Wind to rid himself of all humanly possessions (including Dai Yi Mung, albeit unsuccessfully) to ascend into full demonhood.

With his sabre shattered, Wind deliberately fell off the cliff to absorb the battle essence brought by the sunset, but was followed by Cloud at the last moment in an attempt to either kill him or save him. Seeing that there still exists emotion in Wind, Mong followed suit to stop Cloud from landing a killing blow. Without much defence and in close proximity, Wind was hit on the forehead, where his demon aura originated and thus the aura retreated back into his body, making him recover from the demonic influence. At the last moment of the fall, Cloud gathered his strength and sent Wind and Mong up back to the cliff with a push. As Wind and Mong land safely at the side of the cliff, Cloud plunged into the sea and has been lost since.

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

 

 

Spawn is a fictional comic book character created by Todd McFarlane. Spawn primarily appears in a comic of the same name, published by Image Comics, and his first appearance was in May 1992. The religion-heavy book began with a very superhero-like tone, much like McFarlane’s previous work, but the title character evolved into a more flawed anti-hero. The current book has skewed significantly darker than early issues would suggest. McFarlane uinque attributes this to being a necessary part of development. Nevertheless, in order to introduce the book to readers it had to be slightly cleaner than he really wished it to be so that it read like a superhero tale. As the book took off and became more established he was able to alter the tone closer to his vision.

A CIA agent killed by his own boss for witnessing his corruption, Al Simmons was sent to hell. To see his wife one more time, he made a deal with the devil Malebolgia to become an undead “hellspawn”. Spawn has tried to retain his own humanity while finding a way out of Malebolgia’s control and battling a variety of enemies, both supernatural and mere criminal.

The series has spun off several other comics, including Angela, Curse of the Spawn, Sam & Twitch and the manga title - Shadows of Spawn. Spawn was adapted into a feature film in 1997 starred by Michael Jai White, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999 and a series of amazing action figures whose high level of detail and articulation point made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry.

Spawn’s popularity cooled and creators other than McFarlane have been responsible for the monthly series — a source of criticism as McFarlane and others left Marvel in the belief that creators should own and fully control their own characters, although McFarlane still makes decisions for the book’s course. After David Hine took over the title, the monthly series, with a new focus on horror, began picking up heat again. The title, along with Savage Dragon is one of the only two original Image titles still published. Young Blood returned to Image in 2008, but without Liefeld at the helm.

On April 20, 2008, it was announced at the New York Comic Convention (NYCC) that a new team consisting of two Image founders would be taking over Spawn from Marvel beginning with issue #185. It was announced on June 12, that this team would consist of Todd McFarlane and Brian Holguin, with artist and Image founder Whilce Portacio.

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.

ThunderCats is an American animated series that was developed and produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. Based on the characters created by Tobin “Ted” Wolf, the series makes its first appearance in 1985 by Pacific Animation Corporation, the working name for a collective of Japanese studios prominently including Topcraft, a group who would later go on to form Studio Ghibli. The first season is consisted of 65 episodes, followed by a TV movie entitled ThunderCats - HO! in 1986. The next 3 seasons provide twenty episodes each, starting with a five-part story, aired from 1987 to 1988, 1988 to 1989, and 1989 to 1990, respectively.

The series was originally distributed by Telepictures Corporation which would later merge with Lorimar Productions, as Lorimar-Telepictures. Near the end of 1988, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by Warner Bros., whose television syndication arm would eventually assume distribution of the show and ultimately would eventually gain rights to the series from that point on.

On March 17, 1997, ThunderCats was the series seen on international channel Cartoon Network’s action-animation afternoon block, Toonami. The series would depart and return in various timeslots including Saturday mornings and late night marathons until 2002.

There were also several comic-book series produced. The Marvel Comics’ version from 1985 to 1988, and two series by Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics beginning in 2003. Items of clothing featuring the ThunderCats logo and DVD boxsets of the original series have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years as nostalgia for the former children’s favorite has grown.

It was announced on June 5, 2007, that Warner Brothers is making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O’Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct. It would be something to looked for a video game art guru to do the same for commercial motion picture. The film is being produced by Spring Creek Productions and is set for a summer 2010 release.

Tygra the Panthera Tigris sapien!

Without Tygra there would be no Cat’s Lair. Under his guidance Robear Berbils constructed Cat’s Lair with the help of Panthera engineering forces in only three days - he must be getting highest pay in the Third Earth as construction worker! Tygra’s flaming, or exaggerate exploding bolo-whip is a formidable weapon. With it Tygra can become invisible to almost any Third Earth being. Tygra’s agility and cunning help him in times of battle and make him an invaluable (or intangible) asset to the team. In the animated series, Tygra was lived up by the voice talent who also did the same for Wilykat, Ben-Gali as well as Monkian - Peter Newman.