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Posted April 28, 2014 by Antonio Lukban in Comics
 
 

KOMIKS REVIEW: KuatroKanto Part 1 & 2

Nope, it is not the size of your alcoholic beverage but rather it is a barangay where Badong, Buboy, Genio and Jekjek – a group of teenagers reside.

Have you ever imagined the lyrical stories of Eraserhead’s “Tindahan ni Aling Nena“, “Pare Ko“or Parokya ni Edgar’s “Buloy“? Kuatrokanto reminds me of those songs as I was reading through it. Fittingly the story revolves around a teenager group’s drive to join a battle of the bands competition in their annual barangay fiesta for the chance to be introduced to a girl named Klara. It is also similar to the old local situation comedies on Philippine TV, such as Home Along Da Riles,  Oki Doki Doc and Beh Bote Nga, or a more recent one in Let’s Go where the punchlines are subtle but will not miss to tickle the Filipino heart.

John Nano is able to capture his readers attention from page 1 to the last page of book 2. Inserting a possible parody of a commercial or a satire for the current events, KuatroKanto will keep you hooked and laughing. As a writer, John was able to really make it a Filipino Komik by using language, setting and how he was able to highlight the things the captures Pinoy’s attention trough music and food.

Reading KuatroKanto managed to make me feel the little things that I could be proud of as a Filipino. No wonder John borrowed Francis Magalona’s words to end the komik: “tayo’s mga pinoy hindi tayo kano.

Hoping that a spin-off would come after the first 2 parts of KuatroKanto that would develop the characters further, a lot more can come out of this title and I am sure John Nano has a lot more humor up his sleeves to keep us laughing.


Antonio Lukban