LASTIKMAN
A Critical Self Review
Spoilers! Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled on some story elements.
I'm pretty sure reviews of Lastikman will be forthcoming after the comic book gets more widely circulated. The schedule on it was pretty tight and the copies that arrived yesterday at the launching were literally HOT off the presses, as printing continues for the week. I actually haven't seen and read the comic in its printed form before then. So there I was reading it as people were giving their talks at the launching ceremony.
So what did I think? I gotta say, Arnold's art really just rocks. I mean, bow ako. Same goes for Ed's coloring. It really is a nice looking comic book. But I must admit, there are things about the writing that I wish I could fix. Reading through it I felt like I was rushing to finish everything in one go. I think this was a story that could best be served being told in 4 issues (wishful thinking!), but I think if I had maybe an additional 15 to 20 pages, I could try and make the story flow more to my satisfaction.
I'd devote more pages to Lastikman's adaption to the society, specially the reaction of the people in general, the development of the perceived threat, and more choreography of the battle scene at the end. Kasi parang may kulang over all.
There are some minor errors in the lettering, specially when Atomika is confronting Lastikman, a couple of balloons pointing to Atomika should be pointing to Lastikman.
There were some balloon placements that I think could be done better, because some words that should be read second gets read first and or vice versa. It's all a matter of placing the balloons in the right places to tell a story in an order and pace that I like. It's a writer's responsiblity that I unfortunately was not able to take care of this time around. If we will be doing another comic book in the future, I'll be directly supervising this aspect of production and more.
Those are probably the only technical errors I know, but everything else stems from my own personal opinion of the comic book.
Although this isn't really my first writing gig, it is my first writing gig where I'm handling a popular character drawn by someone else. It's a continuing learning process for me, and this particular project taught me a LOT about writing for comics like this.
I welcome all thoughts on Lastikman, specially thoughts on what you think doesn't work, what's bothering you about it and opinions on what you think should be done to fix it. Post comments below, or email me. Wag kayo mahiya. :)
gerryalanguilan at yahoo dot com.
At any rate, I'm extremely proud of this comic book and I'm very happy at how it all turned out, errors and all, and I'll be actively promoting it whenever I can. Artist Arnold Arre and colorist Edgar Tadeo created something truly exceptional with the art, and they breathed a kind of life into the story that went beyond what I had imagined. Thanks guys! Thanks also to Ryan Orosco for some invaluable assistance. And thanks to Zach, Mr. Hugo Yonzon and Mango Comics for the opportunity. I hope we could do more!
