November 9, 2006

The Grand Finale!
Mood:  energetic

THE GRAND FINALE" SET FOR NOVEMBER 18 at THOMAS & MACK LIVE ON HBO PAY-PER-VIEW

It's official. Three-division world champions MANNY "PACMAN" PACQUIAO and ERIK "EL TERRIBLE" MORALES will get it on for the third time to determine who really is the best man inside the ring. Pacquiao and Morales each own a victory over the other in their two previous fights - both considered "Fight of the Year" candidates -- which have attracted over 700,000 pay-per-view buys combined. The announcement was made today by Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank and Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao's manager. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Wynn Las Vegas, Pacquiao-Morales III will be a 12-round super featherweight bout, taking place Saturday, November 18, from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV, and broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.

"Erik is very determined and he is anxious to take on Pacquiao for a third time," said Arum. "These two great champions have always given it their all, each and every second in the ring, especially against each other. I expect this third fight to be the most exciting of the trilogy - and that's saying something!"

Finkel put it more simply. "Manny will start training in the U.S. on September 1. He is thrilled to have this rubber match to show he is the better man."

"For drama and excitement, there's nothing quite like the deciding match of a great boxing rivalry", said Mark Taffet, HBO Senior Vice President of Sports Operations & Pay-Per-View. "We have every expectation that Pacquiao-Morales 3 will result in their trilogy being as memorable as Barrera-Morales and Gatti-Ward."

Pacquiao, (42-3-2, 32 KOs), from General Santos City, The Philippines, returns to the ring looking for his third victory of 2006. He won a 12-round unanimous decision over former world champion Oscar Larios on July 1 at the sold-out Araneta Coliseum in The Philippines, the same arena that hosted Ali-Frazier III - the "Thrilla in Manila."

On January 21, Pacquiao avenged his previous loss to Morales scoring a dramatic and historic victory dealing "El Terrible" his first-ever knockout loss, stopping him in the 10th round, utilizing his secret weapon -- the savage punch known as "Manila Ice." Pacquiao has gone 16-1-2 in his last 19 bouts with 15 of his victories coming by knockout, including a sensational stoppage of world champion Marco Antonio Barrera. A former WBC flyweight, IBF jr. featherweight and The Ring magazine featherweight champion, Pacquiao is the WBC's and the WBO's No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger for the 130-pound titles and a consensus Top-Three "Pound-for-Pound" fighter. He is trained by Freddie Roach.

"I will beat him in this fight just like I beat him last fight," said Pacquiao. "I am the best super featherweight in the world and I cannot wait to prove it to Erik Morales...again. Morales will fee the strength of the people of The Philippines behind every punch I land on him. This may be the 'Grand Finale' on our trilogy, but it is just the beginning for Manny Pacquiao."

Morales, (48-4, 34 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, is universally recognized as one of the best boxers in the world at any weight, pound-for-pound. He is also one of the most exciting and has fought in several of the most sensational battles of recent years, including his 12-round unanimous decision victory over Pacquiao in their first battle. A former WBC super bantamweight champion, two-time WBC featherweight champion and WBC super featherweight champion, Morales became the second fighter from Mexico to win world titles in three weight divisions - Julio Cesar Chavez was the first. Like Chavez, Erik is also a certain future Hall of Famer.

Morales' Hall of Fame caliber resume boasts victories over Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus 'El Matador' Chavez, Guty Espadas, Paulie Ayala, Injin Chi, Kevin Kelley, Wayne McCullough, Junior Jones, Jose Luis Bueno, Daniel Zaragoza and Hector Acero-Sanchez.

Morales is also a true sportsman as he displayed after his loss to Pacquiao in January.

"I ran into a guy with a lot of ambition who wanted to win very much," said Morales. "He was in great condition and was obviously well-prepared to fight me. It was a very tough, intense fight. I think I had some good moments early, but was getting very tired as the fight was going in the later rounds. I have nothing but respect for Pacquiao, he's a good person and he beat me. You won't hear any excuses from me."

Souce: www.hbo.com

November 1, 2006

Whilce Portacio in Manila!
Mood:  cool
The event was supposed to be held in December 2006, in time for the release of Batman: Confidential, but the time to organize is very limited so it was moved to January 2007. Click the image for future updates!

October 24, 2006

CELEBRATING 120 YEARS OF KOMIKS FROM THE PHILIPPINES II: THE FUTURE OF KOMIKS
Mood:  celebratory
by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

The United States acquired the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish-American War of 1898.

Therefore, it’s undeniable that the Americans had a huge effect on komiks in the Philippines as the nation was under the U.S. rule at the turn of the 20th century.

In the concluding chapter of our 2-part series on Philippines komiks, we take a look at the current state of the industry.

Today, there are new players that get to publish/release new titles on a more frequent basis. “Mango Comics and Nautilus Comics have their bi-monthly comic books,” Budjette Tan explained. “A comic book called Culture Crash also energized the scene with the anime-inspired comic book anthology. The publishers of Culture Crash later organized two comic book/anime/cosplay events that brought thousands of fans together.

“The group Artist’s Den launched the first Manila Komikon last year and already in the works of organizing this year’s event (to be held in Quezon City on October 21). The Komikon successfully brought together generations of comicbook creators.

“A couple of years ago, Adarna Publications, one of the Philippine’s successful publisher of children’s books ventured into publishing graphic novels,” he added. “Their titles: Arnold Arre’s After Eden and Mythology Class have done well, in terms of sales and critical acclaim. Another publisher, Visual Print Publications, also dipped their feet in the comicbook publishing arena with Carlo Vergara's "Ang Kagilagilalas Na Pakikipagsapalaran Ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah" graphic novel. That title was in National Bookstores' Top 20 list a couple of months ago. Its story has already been adopted into a musical and will soon be seen as a full-length feature. Read more!

October 21, 2006

Aftermath
Mood:  chillin'

It's such a wonderful experience to be in the second Philippine comics convention, Komikon 2006. As early as 10:30am, comics enthusiasts were already flocking at the main entrance of UP Diliman Bahay ng Alumni under the scorching heat of the sun, but the patience was all worth it. The first 50 people to register received a slew of goodies from the organizers of the convention, including newsletters, pamphlets, indie comicbooks, magazines, and a LevelUp Games t-shirt.

Some of the big guns in the event include writer/talent agent, David Campiti, who was there for a one-on-one portfolio review, Wilson Tortosa, Jonathan Lau, Gerry Alanguilan, Ed Tadeo, Carlo Pagulayan, some of Philippines local talents, who joined the Lead Slinger Challenge; and last but definitely not the least Leinil Francis Yu, who's kind enough to provide Force2Reckon a quickie Punisher sketch. For more info about the event, just visit here!

October 20, 2006

CELEBRATING 120 YEARS OF KOMIKS FROM THE PHILIPPINES I: THE HISTORY OF KOMIKS
Mood:  celebratory
by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

If names like Panday, Angel Ace, Flash Bomba, Lastikman, Darna, and Captain Barbell sound unfamiliar to you, it's because they're comicbook characters from the Philippines.

In celebration of the 120th anniversary of komiks (that's the Filipino term for comics), Newsarama spoke with komikeros (i.e. cartoonists or comic artists) from the island nation in Southeast Asia.

Incidentally, October is also the Filipino-American history month, and 2006 marks the 100th year of Filipino migration to the United States.

Also, the second Philippine Komiks Convention, Komikon 2006, is scheduled for Saturday, October 21st in Quezon City.

Just how big is the komiks industry in the Philippines? According to writer/artist/inker, Gerry Alanguilan, komiks in the Philippines has had a very rich history, tracing its roots way back to the late 1800s when national hero Jose Rizal created what would be the very first Filipino-made comic strip, The Monkey and the Tortoise.

"But it wasn't until 1929 on the pages of Liwayway Magazine that the first regularly published comics character was born: Kenkoy, as created by Tony Velasquez," Alanguilan explained to Newsarama. Liwayway Magazine (which is still being published today) is pretty much where the Philippines comics industry was born when the comics section grew to accommodate more short stories and artists. Liwayway is where artists like Fred Carrillo debuted.

"1946 saw the very first regularly published "comic book" via the short-lived Halakhak, and a year or so later, in 1947, saw the birth of ACE Publications, which debuted several comic books that will see publication for many decades. It is in ACE that artists like Tony DeZuniga, Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, Alex Ni?o, Rudy Florese, Ernie Chan, and many other Filipino artists familiar to people abroad, began to work.

"It's an astounding body of work. To see what kinds of comics those Filipinos were able to do, I've put up an online museum which you can find at Komikero Museum.

"A lot of these artists eventually found work in American comics at the very end of the 1960s, and it was since then and all throughout the 70s did America finally see a huge treasure trove of artists as yet unknown to the western world." Read more!

Newer | Latest | Older