COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Killer Kamote Komiks: Pagtitipon ng Lahat ng Killer Kamote Komiks na Ikinatha sa Wikang Tagalog

Arvin’s Existential Quests….

Killer Kamote Komiks: Pagtitipon ng Lahat ng Killer Kamote Komiks na Ikinatha sa Wikang Tagalog has seven short stories of indie comic illustrator Arvin Valenzuela, ranging from one-page stories to four-page tales, totaling 17 pages. Here are the following selections.

First is Katoto, a warmhearted story between a girl and her best friend, her dog, until the latter’s unexpected demise and her acceptance to her beloved pet’s farewell. Arvin even puts an alternative ending, a one-page dialogue dense interaction between the girl and her pet.

Piyesta ng mga Langgam is the second one that centers on the narrator’s immediate disturbance to the ants’ monotonous life cycle to the usual predictable result.

The two-page Tutubi presents the boy’s follies of hurting the harmless titular insect.

Arvin dwells to the black political humor in Digmaan, the possible scenario of Philippines’ conflict with the so-called “Asia’s Sleeping Giant”. This is the densest narrative, but ends with the typical Philippine humor as we Filipinos are familiarized with.

In Senti, the narrator is on the emotional and psychological conundrum of parting ways with his “treasures”. This one is as personal as we see in the creator’s mind so far.

As the homage to the Batibot series, Buhay explores literally the meaning of existence of the show’s beloved characters in the most direct approach yet. Similar to the first selection, there is an alternative ending here in case to minimize the unpleasant and twisted impact in the first ending.

Continuing the existentialist perspective, Pagpag allegorizes the tragic fates of the father-and-son. However, there are no other endings around, and things are serious here.

And finally, Ematero briefly tackles the feel of being emotionally “blissful” that counters the absurdity in the last panel altogether.

Almost all stories here carry the serious tone of the Jean Paul Satre’s existentialist dictum of “existence precedes the essence.” Arvin draws some of the decent to good illustrations, and highly detailed backgrounds. His facial portrayals can be viewed exaggeratedly, but that’s the beauty of this short anthology. His dialogues are sometimes snappy, sharp, suspenseful, melancholic, and convincing; but in serious matters, very tense. Yes, some drawings are cartoonish, yet this is a good short anthology regardless.