GERRY ALANGUILAN is a licensed architect and is a member of the San Pablo Chapter of the United Architects of the Philippines. He is also a board member of the Philippine International Cartoons, Comics, and Animation (PICCA), as well as member of the Asia-Pacific Animation and Cartoon Association. He gave up a career in architecture and started working as a professional comic book creator in 1992, beginning with “Dracula's Wives” and “Props” for Mass Media Publishing. Ever since then, Gerry has consistently freelanced for various companies in the Philippines and abroad, even publishing his own comics from his own Komikero Publishing.
“Why are you doing this to us? “, said the bride held hostage by Eric, along with her groom inside the car.
“ Why ? Because I hate you.
I hate weddings. I hate flowers. I hate dashing grooms and blushing brides.
I hate birthdays and cakes, candies, choc-nut bars and pin the tail on the donkey games. I hate spaghetti.
I hate Christmas and Christmas songs.
I hate cupid. I hate red hearts and red shirts and red shoes.
I hate ninja turtles and Archie and the little mermaid and beauty and the beast. I hate Sleepless in Seattle and Forest Gump.I hate Garfield and Snoopy and Ziggy, Mickey Mouse , Goofy and Donald Duck, Sesame Street and Jollibee Mascots.
I hate walks in the park, dates, and beach outings. I hate Michael Bolton and Whitney Houston and Ariel Rivera songs. They sing about Love…about SACRIFICE…yet they don’t know what the Hell they’re talking about.
I HATE roller coaster rides, double movie seats, motels and strawberry flavored condoms. I HATE smiles and kisses, whispered sweet nothings, hands held tight, embraces and sex.
I HATE joy!
I HATE laughter!
I…
I HATE LOVE.
And I HATE you because you are HAPPY.
And I am not.” _________________________________________
Which of those things in the lines above you HATE most?
If you are a sensible person- let us say a pragmatic person- you might find the lines above “corny” or OA ( overacting) . Eric, the man in the story, is almost exaggerated. He almost hates the world. He even involves the people like Ariel Rivera and Michael Bolton and inanimate things who have nothing to do with his “pathetic” life. Probably, you might say that you feel like knocking the living daylight of him. Well, I cannot blame you if you have no background in psychology. If you do, probably, you do not apply it to your understanding the people just the like of Eric. (snickering) Do I sound affected? Not that! I just want to sympathize with Eric; I am a student of Psychology. @_@
Eric , a musician, is broken-hearted. He cannot accept the fact that his girlfriend, Jenny, breaks up with him, for she finds another man. For Eric, Jenny is the only woman he will love forever. He believes that Jenny thinks the same way. They both promise to stay together, to have a happy family once they tie the knot. In the end, all his dreams turn out to be a castle in the air. Eventually, he becomes extremely obsessed about her. He has manic depression ( based on my psychological analysis). He becomes ill-tempered and psychopath at the same time. He projects his anger to the people around him. Probably, he has high degree of paranoia and hallucination. He even becomes a misanthropist. No wonder the lines above on how he hates the world around him perfectly bespeak his internal thinking. Therefore, he becomes a sociopath.
In other perspective, I therefore believe that Eric is an epitome of an idealistic and “Emo” person. A person is said to be idealistic when he or she wants to live according to his/ her own standard far from the realistic universe. Actually, the idea is associated with utopian feelings.
Emo , on the other hand, is a slang for being extremely emotional referring to people who are usually said to be unable to deal with realistic situations befall them. Usually, most of “Emos” are said to be broken-hearted. As a matter of fact, the word Emo is a style of rock music characterized by expressive, often confessional, lyrics. It originated in the mid-1980s hardcore punk movement of Washington, D.C., where it was known as "emotional hardcore" or "emocore" and pioneered by bands such as Rites of Spring and Embrace. * In this generation, it is now the stereotype that when someone has this rock-style outfit , he/ she may be an Emo.( I don’t think so.)
Upon reading this, I could SUBJECTIVELY conclude that an Emo or an idealistic person could/ may be
*prone to depression *a misanthropist *a misogynist *suicidal *psychopathic *a major offender. *a man with higher degree of paranoia and hallucination.
I have watched dramas and movies with such common theme on the idealistic revenge of a man dumped by his girlfriend. However, I believe that Gerry’s story is original. In fact, Gerry wrote it in the 1990’s. Or Gerry may have drawn the impression from the other books written in the 1980’s. Who knows? But I surmise that the story could reflect in his personality. ( Who am I to judge him? )
Another good thing about the comic book is that it deals not just with the love story of a psychopath but also with the socio-political aspects. Obviously, there are some parts Eric projects his grievances to the government and society. Therefore, you may conclude that what centers around the story is the pursuit of JUSTICE.
I usually enjoy reading animation comics just the like of Doraemon written and illustrated by the manga writing team Fujiko Fujio, but when I joined The Graphic Novel Club on Goodreads, I came to the realization that comics are not different from other books. They could have sense-All books have sense! The best examples are Gerry Alanguilan’s.
Dear me, forgive my ignorance.Little did I know that there is such a world-class comics writer and illustrator just the like of Gerry Alanguilan. Hmmm... Hooray! I am gonna hunt his Elmer, Rodski Patotski: ang Dalagang Baby, and Underpass: A Summit Media Graphic Anthology.
Love, madness, death. This komiks is devastatingly real and violent but puts a balance into beautiful and heartbreaking. So many feelings burst inside.
The artwork is hands-down a 5, the story automatically is a given.
I've read Gerry Alanguilan's Wasted before as a free downloadable e-comic. Now I got the chance to read his work in trade paperback, and I'm still amazed how brutal and wasted (yet beautifully written) this book is.
Gerry A admitted that Wasted was created during a hard time of his life. So here you will see how really f*cked up his life was back then. The mindless violence in this book keeps you entertained as Eric (Wasted's certified heartbroken a-hole) heartlessly kills whoever annoys him. He is a badass with loads of sh*t and badtripness shoved into him through all the orifices of his utterly wasted self. It seems that he has opened his own path to hell.
More than the blood and brutality, there are scenes which may be very offensive to some. But this Eric really doesn't care. He's a crazy, jealous and heartbroken killing machine. Besides, this was written during the 90's so hey, anything goes.
Do not expect any story or character development. Wasted doesn't have time for such sensible things. It is a miasma of excessive blood and exaggerated hatred.
Jesus H. Christ that was some heavy shit! Disturbingly crazy, yet beautiful. The emotions are raw, the words are honest. I can safely say that Alanguilan is now one of my favorite writers ever. I never expected a black & white comic book could be so full of life and passion. It moved me, really. This shit is insane, but I assure you, you'll never forget it.
Wasted is a pretty good book with a fair plot to go by. Any reader can relate to heartache and this book is all about that. Or to be more precise, it's obssession and insanity.
The plot is similar to the movies, "falling down" and "wanted", where a man just had enough and went postal. However it differs as the reason for Eric's havoc is heart-related. Btw I can't help but notice Eric looks much alike Gerry in real life. Probably this book has a very personal root to Gerry's life.
The premise was awesome, Eric is cutting himself while on these flashbacks are happening one panel over the other. It's like a movie in a comic book. That page also where Eric was watching the soap-opera and then he shoot the TV sets, that was epic! The following pages of Eric's hate to the world is quite amusing as most of it show truths about real life like the bag robber and the smoker in the jeep.
Though Wasted has a lot of strengths as a comicbook, there are somethings I didn't like. One of it is some dialogues are too wordy and redundant. As a reader, I understand the pain and hate from the character but most of it are not needed and not real. Most men don't talk that much. Second I like hate crimes of Eric but somewhere along the way, these have been tiring. The plot also went dull in the middle of the book. It's just pure hatred and rampage. If this would have been worked out, this could have been one awesome book from start to finish.
Given that, Wasted still stands out as one of the unique comicbooks that Filipinos has to offer.
I read this book through the online edition, available here: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/komike... (Interestingly, Alanguilan comments on the pages every so often on this online book.)
WARNING: This is a very bloody (read: violent) book. (It's in black and white though, if that helps.)
Simple story: girl and guy fall in love, girl breaks up with guy, guy contemplates on break-up & ends up pretty crazy-desperate.
The scenes are pretty fast and almost too simplistic. The emotion seems to bleed through the pages. I'd say the story's cliche, but there's something about the way it's been told that makes it almost unbelievably original. The art is pretty great too.
I can see blood in black and white. I can feel pain and love in words. This comic is amazing, Eric reminds me of Leon from the movie Leon: the professional. How can one can get-away after doing a killing spree? This one is a very engaging read. And I liked the fact that the online version has captions from Gerry during the time he's doing the comics. Just awesome, man. Hope there will be printed copies in the future
Intense love story. Psychotic Eric loves Jen. However, Jen had the change of heart so she left Eric. When a lunatic is deeply in love but ditched by the subject of his amour he turns berserk. Eric holds a group of people caught with him inside the elevator. His demand is for Jen to come back to her. He asks Jenny to tell him that she still loves him. She refuses so he shoots two of his hostages.
That's what this book is all about. Similar to the movie Fatal Attraction when love becomes obsession and it turns to murder. Tsk tsk. I have loved people in my life aside from my wife and daughter and I would never imagine myself to be like Eric. It is totally crazy. After all, he is a loony so I don't really get why people are falling in love with this work like it is a kind of masterpiece.
It is good. Intense feeling of a haggard man who is lost and can shoot anyone like a Columbine student going around the campus. However, that crazy man writes a good heartfelt love letter that capped the book and made Jen cry herself to sleep. I understand if young girls would fall in love with the bad boy Eric because they, at their tender age, normally love bad boys who have gift of gab (similar to guys who can make them laugh).
Overall, I liked this book. It really is a page-turner.
"Madness is like gravity... all you need is a little push", yan ang sabi ni Joker sa the Dark Knight. At yan ang unang quote na pumasok sa isip ko nung natapos kong basahin yung librong 'to. XD (comics pala...XDD)
Another "wow" comics from Mr. Gerry Alanguilan. Buti na lang hindi niya niredraw yung comics (well partly he did, buy the comics to know why...) dahil nakadagdag yun sa intensity nung story.
Natuwa ako, kasi, at one point of my life (where I was really really really down), I tried releasing everything (hate, sadness, depression... etc) by making a comic boob. Natuwa ako kasi feeling ko na-ka-connect ako ng bongga sa emotion at gustong ipakita nung artist sa komiks na 'to... I felt it... Everything... the hate... the anger... BULLSEYE!!!
Wala akong nakuhang kagandahang asal sa story.. pero ito ang sureball... Love can drive someone crazy, as in psychotic crazy....
Hindi pa ako masyadong nakakabasa ng mga comics, pero 'yung mga nabasa ko na noon, hindi ko masyadong nagustuhan. Hindi ko sigurado kung dahil hindi maganda o baka hindi lang talaga ako marunong magbasa ng comics o baka hindi ko lang talaga naintindihan. O baka naman hindi talaga 'to 'yung klase ng libro na para sa akin o baka hindi pa ako nakakahanap ng comics na talagang magugustuhan ko.
Kaso lang, nabasa ko 'tong "Wasted".
Naupo ako, at binasa ito sa isang basahan lang dahil m a g a n d a. Humanga ako do'n sa mismong kuwento at pati na rin sa mga drowing. Parang gusto ko biglang humanap ng maraming-maraming comics na katulad ng ganito. Kasi pagkabasa ko nitong "Wasted", biglang nagbago ang pananaw ko sa comics. Ang ganda pala. Ang galing pala.
Sa kasalukuyan, eto ang pinaka-paborito kong comics.
I've read the online version of this comic book but I promise myself to buy a copy in the near future. Everyone will love this book because it talked about, well, love. Eric, the protagonist, was left by her girlfriend for another guy. That's the most painful thing that could happen to a man! Leaving by someone you love is painful enough to make you lose hope but leaving you for a different guy is murder! This is what the story is all about: murder, blood and violence. You can say all of that in one word: LOVE. I really love this book. Men. I was an Eric once when my girlfriend broke up with me. This book nailed it! The emotions are real. I've seen red in this book. I'll definitely read it again.
As a grown almost 25-year-old man, the next few words may sound a bit odd but it's true. I may or may have not cried while reading this book.
"It's as if love can be transplanted like a plant. Like a God damned plant."
Brilliant is something of an understatement in reviewing Wasted. This book speaks to you, to everyone - well technically, every single one of us had those love lost situations. It's real, eloquent, and poignant. For a guy who goes out shooting random people in the public, it's actually quite literate. Now this piece of art may have been something out of angst and depression, but like I said - everything in here is as real as it gets. The art style and illustrations were great in representing a time of depression, which is totally where our main character Eric is. And the words, the real poetic essence of them was just fantastic. The storytelling goes from lost to madness to crazy killing sprees to acceptance. It's elevates as the book progresses. It is something you'd actually look for in a book. It was stellar and terrific. Props to Mr. Gerry Alanguilan. Oh and thank you for sharing such story into the world, I believe this have touched people's hearts in ways you didn't imagine sir.
Wasted is something you'd most likely recommend to everyone else. The people who lost someone they love, the people who got lied on, cheated on, and had their loved one's stolen away. The people who are just downright looking for something to read. The people who wishes to move away from all the funny or fantasy epic comics that has been going on around for awhile. Even to those people who are actually inlove and is looking to get married someday - since it also deals with change. That's the beauty of this book as you can see, it could be read by anyone. It could be recommended to anyone. And I'm telling you, anyone would actually relate to this. So dude, if you're looking to make your girl start reading comics or something - give her a copy of Wasted man. HAHAHAHA. Let's see where we go from there. Yes?
This is something I would definitely be reading for a bunch of times, over and over again.
Man, that was intense! Bloody, violent, lawless. Oh yeah.
Filipino comics written in English usually make me cringe because most, not all, seem to be a bad translation of the local dialect. To better illustrate this point, think of a movie where an American cast is speaking Chinese for 2 hours. It's just not the same.
Though I felt this one started out that way, once you get past the first few pages, you forget the slight language nuisances and focus on the story. Inked in black and white (I'm guessing he used the most basic of pens), the artwork and script conveys so much emotion! The exclamation point is intentional. It's truly a gripping tale of a man who has loved and lost. I hate to admit it but...I was able to relate to the protagonist. Haha. What I'd give to go on a rampage like that! :)
My actual rating is less .5 stars for the repetitive dialogue. I felt that some scenes didn't really need them at all. It's a super minor quirk. :) Otherwise, everything is just excellent.
The author uploaded the entire comic here: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/komike.... His commentaries are priceless and amusing at the same time. Thank you kind sir for sharing this.
Can't wait to read more of his stuff...
P.S. I really like what he did with the mayor (who was actually the mayor of the city where I live). That was hilarious.
The no no topics for me are romantic relationships and religion, but this comic, Wasted was an exception for love story, aside from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.
This is So badass, one of the few filipino made comics/graphic novels i have read , brutally awesome in art, concept and story. I just wished more market for this. Sir GErry please make more of this!
The beginning of my journey as a komiks reader. The OG. A small black komiks full of raw energy, intense emotions, and graphic violence. A simple story about Eric who lost everything and who decided to take it out on the scum of Manila and on every poor sap he encountered who pissed him off.
Art appears simplistic but the detailed linework that sir Gerry’s art is known for is already here. Story is simple but you can feel the hate, anger, and violence seeping out of the black and white pages. This book will consume you just like how Eric’s rage and hatred consumed him, and the last few pages with Eric’s girlfriend Jenny would break you.
Best read after a breakup or during rage-filled days.
“The disintegration of a man in eight issues” - Gerry Alanguilan
I liked how Eric just went all berserk here, especially when people try to talk some sense into him. Great dialogue. And really, a more fleshed out plot is unnecessary, its simplistic, theatric storyline already perfectly captures the intensity of his feelings. Eric’s violence represents all his anguish, loneliness, and rage, and how you cannot and should not just tame intense emotions, for at its height it must not be downplayed / consoled.
After reading Elmer, I heard of Wasted being another great work of the late Gerry Alanguilan.
This graphic novel delved deep into the emotion of our main character and I felt how devastated he is that led him to do very violent things. The art style is amazing and the structure of the story is done well.