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Posted June 15, 2015 by Luigi Cabrera in Comics
 
 

4 Reasons on Why You Should Be Reading DEAD BALAGTAS

The Philippine Independence Day has just passed by but the feelings of patriotism and the history of our country is still very much alive within DEAD BALAGTAS. Read on to find out why Dead Balagtas has caught our eye and our interest.


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The Humor
One thing that you can always be sure with Dead Balagtas is that it is full of wit.  Usually it starts on a serious tone and closes with an ending that you wouldn’t expect. Though it might be a humor comic, it is written very smartly. Another thing that makes it funny is the use of modern elements in the comic that is dominated by elements of the past. Imagine Padre Damaso saying “I am your father” to Maria Clara ala Darth Vader or Rizal fixing her mother’s eyes only to end up giving her powers like X-men’s Cyclops. Often times, readers would also see historic characters use modern phrases found in the social media, hashtags are not exempted.

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The Art
The art’s strong point is how it looks serious in the whole comics but ends on a panel that has a totally out of place tone to the illustration. The serious illustrations are easy on the eyes as it is clean looking and has really simple yet complete details. What makes it stand out though is the outright weird illustrations, most notably the exaggerated facial expressions. Seeing Jose Rizal with a pair snake eyes and an elongated tongue as he decides to kill of his characters is something that you won’t definitely see in other comics.

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The History Lessons
This is pretty much the true essence of Dead Balagtas. Every strip is inspired by our country’s rich history. You’d often see famous figures from the past such as Lapu-lapu, a bunch of our heroes in the Spanish occupation era, our national hero Rizal, and even characters from his two famous novels and so much more. Often times, a strip often happens over an important event in our history. Another thing that Dead Balagtas stands out for is the brief history lesson that comes with each of its post and mind you it’s not the boring kind that you often got at school. In the end, Dead Balagtas is more than just its humor as it also retells us some of our rich history that frankly some of us has already forgotten.

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The Author
The real identity of the author is hidden behind a pseudonym and a bayong. Yes you’ve read that right. While most of the comic books artist have known identities and faces, the brains behind Dead Balagtas hides hers with a bayong with a smiley face and behind the name Emiliana Kampilan. Though it might be a little unorthodox Miss Emiliana has her own reason and that is her belief that the author and her writings should be separate entities. Nevertheless, she still peaks our interest but not because of her true identity but because of her ideals and her work.


Luigi Cabrera

 
Enthusiast of things geeky, weird, and random. He finds peace in writing.