Goodbye Miss Grundy

I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the Archie Comics. It's one of long running syndicates strips in the United States and has reached the far corners of the world. I grew up reading classic Archie and the gang thanks to my tita's collection which she had since the 1970s. Each character is known to me, much as one would know a neighbor or a classmate at school.

My friend Ryan, a fellow toy collector and comic enthusiast, shared this link today that shocked me to the core. Riverdale High's long-time teacher Miss Geraldine Grundy gets cancer. That's not the worst of it. She never successfully battles it and she subsequently passes away.

This storyline will be featured in "Life With Archie" Issue #6. This shows how reality is creeping into the fictional and somewhat perfect world of Archie Andrews.

It makes me sad. It's like losing an old friend. I remember numerous storylines where the gang would try to bring her together with The Bee. Or how the girls once gave her a make-over to help her get a date. It's those little things that bring her close to you even though you know her character exists in between those sheets of paper. While I probably won't read this comic (I don't know if I will be able to get one), just knowing how it goes makes me really sad.

Image is from Comic Vine.

Rest in peace, Miss Grundy.

BSP releases redesigned Philipine Peso bills

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas today revealed the new designs of the Phillipne Peso bills. According to BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., these designs took three years to conceptualize and print. One the whole, a lot of the bills' designs are the same, but some elements were changed and added.


P20 bill
Obverse: Manuel L. Quezon
Reverse: Banaue Rice Terraces and a palm civet from the Cordilleras, which are famous for producing the coffee alamid.

P50 bill
Obverse: Sergio Osmeña
Reverse: Taal Lake and the Giant Trevally (locally known as Maliputo), a delicious milky fish which thrives only in the waters of the lake.



P100 bill
Obverse: Manuel A. Roxas
Reverse: Mayon Volcano and “butanding” or whale shark, the world’s largest living fish which is the main attraction of Donsol, Sorsogon.



P200 bill
Obverse: Diosdado Macapagal
Reverse: Chocolate Hills and the Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates.



P500 bill
Obverse: Corazon Aquino and Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. (Tetangco said the addition of Mrs. Aquino was decided after she passed away in August 2009 and before her son announced his candidacy for president)
Reverse: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot, which thrives in the forests of Palawan and Mindoro.



P1,000 bill
Obverse: Josefa Llanes Escoda, Vicente P. Lim, and Jose Abad Santos
Reverse: Tubbataha Reef Marine Park and the South Sea Pearl, which is produced by oysters that thrive in the South Seas which the Sulu Sea is a part of.



Fe Dela Cruz, director of the BSP’s corporate affairs office said that the images of the national figures have been changed to reflect their younger selves, as they served the country during their prime.

The banknotes have new security features to help prevent them from being copied. These features increase as the value of the note goes higher. They include: embossed prints, serial numbers, security fibers, watermarks, security thread, optically variable device, optically variable ink, and a see-through mark.

This see-through mark is the word "Filipino" and is written based on the pre-Hispanic Philippine writing system called "Baybayin".

Sources:
Pinoy Tumblr
GMANews.TV

The Magic of Drawing

Today's bargain find: The Magic of Drawing by Cliff Wright

While I believe a person can never have enough books about the topic they love, I was a bit hesitant to buy this. The clincher? Cliff Wright illustrated two UK versions of the Harry Potter books. Shallow reason, yes. But as I skimmed through the book, I realized that it has a lot of great information that I can use.

It's a secondhand book, so the price was good. I look forward to really read this book. It was published in 2008.

Marvel gives each NBA team a comic book cover

For the NBA season this year, Marvel and ESPN teams up to give each NBA team their own comic book style cover. Basketball fans will enjoy seeing their sports idols depicted as super heroes (which they are, I suppose, in a way), but what about the comic book fans who aren't that into basketball?

They still may want to take a look, as these covers --- a total of thirty for the two conferences (15 for the Eastern conference, 15 for the Western conference) --- were created by well known comic book artists including J. Scott Campbell, Olivier Coipel, Terry Dodson, Leinil Francis Yu, John Romita Sr., Kaare Andrews, and Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada.

I'm especially excited for two names: J. Scott Campbell, who made the awesome and sexy Fairy Tale Fantasies; and Leinil Francis Yu, a Filipino comic book artist who has been with Marvel for quite some time now.

It's interesting to look at the covers, and figuring out the story behind it. Some are similar to previous comic covers (like the one with LeBron mocking a 1967 Spiderman cover) or an artist's take on the teams they're illustrating.

Here's a few of covers. The rest can be found at the ESPN site. You can also look at the sketches gallery. All images belong to Marvel, NBA and their respective artists.

Neil Gaiman art contest winners

Here are the winners of the Neil Gaiman art contest held in conjunction with the 3rd Philippine Graphic/Fiction Awards.

All three plus other selected artwork can be seen at the North Court of Rockwell Power Plant Mall.

First place: Boundaries by Elle Battung. Medium: Paper


Second place: Together with Barnabas by Marie Franz Canares. Medium: Canvas, Acrylic, Coffee


Third place: Hole by Rea Uypitchitig (thanks Lyn!

I think this one won the People's Choice award This tied for second place. You read about the author's account about the event here.





Armageddon by Lyn (uh, what's your last name nga pala? Hehe.)

Here are some of the other works I found interesting:






The Other Mother by Melanie H. Lim


Peek-A-Boo by Kamille Anne U. Areopagita

Congratulations to the winners! Neil Gaiman himself chose the winners.

Note: I am not affiliated with the organizers of the event, Rockwell or Neil Gaiman (though I wish I was for the latter hehe).

The Art of Charles Vess

My first exposure to Charles Vess was through his collaboration with Neil Gaiman for "Stardust." Vess' work there particularly reminded me of the old fairytale books I read as a child*. Maybe because Stardust is a fairytale for adults, or maybe the period the story is set in. Aesthetically, his character's features are not my type, but I love the attention he gives to details, the color he uses and how each artwork evokes emotion.

Charles Vess at the 2004 Comic Con (Source)

Dark Horse Books has released "Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess," an compliation of Vess' works over the years. The beautiful illustrations are accompanied by comment from Charles Vess himself, describing his adventures as a painter, sculptor and publisher.

Aside from Neil Gaiman, Charles Vess has worked with writers like Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell) and George R.R. Martin. He is the recepient of such awards like The Will Eisner Comics Industry Award, World Fantasy Award, and Spectrum Annual Award.

*In the foreword, author Susanna Clarke mentions that there is something "unsettingly familiar" with Vess' works, and goes on to mention names of Edwardinian story-book illustrators like Authur Rackham, Charles Robinson and Kay Nielsen. I didn't recognize the names at first, but when I saw their work, I knew what Clarke was talking about. Those were the artists whose works I saw many years ago.

Exclusive contest for Drawn! readers

We Love Patterns and Funkrush have teamed up for an exclusive contest for Drawn! readers. Three (3) pattern ideas and/or themes will be picked and each winner will receive an "We Love Patterns" squirrel t-shirt.

Submit your entries to gaston.caba(at)welovepatterns(dot)com with the subject “We Love Patterns Too.”

About We Love Patterns
Gastón Caba, Silvana Marino and Lara Caba created the family company We Love Patterns in 2010. The company is passionate in creating a growing collection of "extra-cute, colorful and optimistic pattern artworks" to add charm and whimsy to all kinds of products.

The company offers a different style of patterns from the standard ones often seen in the market. Each one has the ability to tell a story, or view a giant concept from the tiny objects and words.

Artists that have their original designs on We Love Patterns include Bubi Au Yeung, Dana Zimmerling & Mr. TobyHK, and every month, the company selects more artists to add to their catalogue.

Source: Drawn!