Video 48: GERRY ALANGUILAN

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Thursday, December 25, 2008

FROM RAVELO AND DEL MUNDO'S "TEXAS" (1952) TO ALANGUILAN'S "ELMER" (2008)

Two generations of talking chickens:
Texas (left) and Jake, son of Elmer (right)

Elmer, a comic novel by prolific writer-illustrator Gerry Alanguilan came to a dramatic end with the release of his last of the four-part series last November during the celebration of Komikon at the UP Alumni Center at UP Diliman. I was able to read the entire novel in one sitting and I was awed and overwhelmed of Gerry’s incredible imagination gone wild--- the whole chicken race intermingling and interacting with the human race (from Elmer, his wife Helen, to son Jake to Farmer Ben and to other interesting characters).

In the article, Lethal Chicken by Ruel S. De Vera--- “That is “Elmer,” a four-issue limited series that began in 2006 and which concluded with the recent release of “Elmer” # 4 (Komikero Publishing, San Pablo City, 2008, 64 pages). The series depicts a bizarre, alternate Philippines where the chickens have somehow gained sentience and speech, becoming a part of society.

“Elmer” hatched with the reader following malcontent rooster Jake Gallo, who just can’t seem to catch a break, what with his being the underachieving brother of a movie star and now he discovers his sister is about to marry a human, of all things. A trip back to his childhood home leads to the discovery of a book left him by his father, the late titular Elmer. Through that book, Jake—and by extension, the reader—discovers exactly what happened when the chickens suddenly learned to think and speak in 1979.

It is a disturbing discovery. Through three issues, Jake finds out that his father and mother were in the maelstrom of the big change. Wizened Farmer Ben, ostensibly his father’s best friend, may not be all he seems. Struggling to understand his boiling resentment of humans, Jake wonders what his father experienced.

All that buildup comes to a chicken head in “Elmer” # 4, the plus-sized conclusion to the series. The planet has flipped upside down, as chickens and humans seem locked in a violent spiral. “This is going to get bad before it gets any better,” Farmer Ben tells Elmer. And it does get very bad, with an explosion of violence that is as visceral as it is unsurprising. Even if the reason behind the chicken evolution is not definitively explained, Elmer instead puts an emphasis on what happened after that worldwide event.”

Did you know that talking chickens were in existence way back in the 50s in Mars Ravelo and Clodualdo del Mundo's Texas? The novel, illustrated by Elpidio Torres, was serialized in Pilipino Komiks in 1952 and was adapted into the big screen with Pancho Magalona, Linda Estrella and Texas, the chicken (would you believe it?) in the title role. It ran for 32 issues. Here's the last two segments of that exciting novel--- Enjoy reading!!!