Kare-Kare Komiks

by Andrew Drilon

Satisfy your hunger! Zipping along the borders of every genre, a metafictional hunter faces an apocalyptic entity threatening the very fabric of stories! In order to defeat it, he must dive into this collection of more than twenty delicious comics stories and enlist the aid of its colorful characters!

Genres: Comics

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Jedi JC Daquis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loosely tied by a cat-and-mouse chase between a hunter and a monster that is not bound by the pages of the books, Kare-kare comics delves into the psychedelic, crazy, chaotic, mind of Andrew Drilon manifested as an almost incomprehensible mash-up of stories, hence the title.

The metacomics plot of the Kare-kare cauldron monster and the hunter is easy to follow (which is often condiment-ed by the constrastingly funny meta-characters called the Bagoong Boys) and very much reminiscent of Grant Morrison stories like Final Crisis and the Multiversity. Drilon's other stories are obviously a product of a deranged beautiful mind which I genuinely meant as a compliment. Though his stories and art style may be varied, you can see inspirations from other materials and characters - Adventure Time, Preacher's Saint of Killers and Moore's Promethea are some of the works I have recognized aside from the obvious parody of Archie and Jughead.

Kare-kare comics is faithful to its name, though it might be as well entitled as Chop Suey or Pinakbet comics. Proceed with caution.

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 1 out of 5]

Talk about versatility. Andrew Drilon definitely has it. Big time. This book is a showcase of his talents to create many different looks and feels of comics. This is my first time to hold a collection of comics by an author and cartoonist at the same time.

For example, my first initiation in reading komiks as adult was "KikoMachine" series by Manix Abrera. This was followed by "Tabi Po" series by Mervin Malonzo. I understand that both were series so they have to continue the look and feel, including the characters and settings, of both. Issue after issue, you see the same. However, when both of them produced other works, for example "12" and "14" for Manix Abrera and "Subersibo" for Mervin Malonzo, the look and feel of both are the same as their more popular series. Same with Bong Redilla with his "Melag" and "Sikami" contributions. So, I began wondering: is it because they are just protecting their brand or they don't know a few different styles in drawing komiks?

Here, Andrew Drilon did a game-changer. He showed more than 20 styles - characters, plots, milieus, colors, color shades, etc. and did it with aplomb. The stories are mostly bitin as they had to be told in a very limited number of pages. So, I was left with insatiable craving. It's like being served a platter in Racks and you get to sample everything and you particularly liked some of the dishes and once you're done with them, you want to have whole orders of those and the resto doesn't have them in their menu.

My only criticism is that I've read some of the stories here like the "Upo", "Pericos Tao" and "Love Story." I understand that they were previously published and there is a disclaimer at the last pages of the book. Kung minsan lang kasi, parang sayang yong ibinayad kasi sort of recycled na. Fillers na lang. Lalo na kung yong ang pinakamaganda pa rin sa collection. Meron naman noong "Bagoong Boys" at yong "Memorial" kaya puwede na rin.

[Sha Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to its name, lahok-lahok ang mga kuwentong nakapaloob sa antolohiyang ito. Magkakaibang lasang sinusubok na gisingin at pag-isahin ng bagoong (boys! so condimentary!) kahit maaari din namang namnamin nang simple lang. Swak naman sa panlasa at gugustuhin pa ring balik-balikan kung di pihikan ang naghahanap na dila.

[elsewhere · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, I have thought that “Kare-Kare Komiks” by Andrew Drilon is an anthology – and this, by all means, is a compliment.

There are different artists living inside of this book – as if the author himself contains multiple versions of himself that he has been able to display through his art and through stitching different styles of writing and illustrating. Andrew Drilon is a collection of multiple artists and this book has transported me into different worlds, and I am deeply amazed.

To further highlight the beauty of this book, even the table of contents and the introduction are to be considered as art – every page is an art. As for the text, initially, the writing style has not been that easy to read, but as the story progresses, the familiarity of the writing style becomes stronger, thus making the text more readable and far easier to comprehend since the writing style suits the personality of the characters. I have especially loved how the book tackles mental health, suicidal ideations, art, writer’s block, the process of creating, ideas, and writing itself. There are wonders in stories and storytelling that this book has been able to highlight. It attempts to send a message to its readers – that stories matter.

The latter part of the book, however, is not as strong as the first and middle part of the book. Personally, I think that the last few stories somewhat lost their track and just became independent stories rather than being stories connected to each other (which the previous stories have been able to do). The ending has not been as remarkable as its first and middle parts, but I still find this book very beautiful – the art, the concept, and the stories.

I am in love with the idea of this book: Stories overlapping with each other; wherein Mang Tomas’ goal is to fix the stories and to stop them from intervening with each other’s stories – which is not meant to happen in the first place. I am amazed with how the author inserted himself in these stories as a writer and an artist.

Overall, I am still fascinated with this book. My actual rating for this book is 4.5/5 stars. A recommended read!

[Vim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another amazing compilation of Filipino komiks. As the name suggests, it's a hotpot of stories across various genre that have no business being together in one volume, and yet in the end, it kind of makes sense that they are.

Follow Mang Tomas, a metafictional hunter trying to make the universe of stories right again after the rampage of a weird monster that is a lot of KARE-KARE. The hunter jumps from one story to another as each take unfolds before us.

Ceiling proves to be a versatile artists and storyteller, with a variety of styles under his sleeves as he tackles all sort of themes - from the mundane to the magical, from pets to mental health, and many more, in one of the most meta works to ever exist in this universe.

[Gab of Green Gables · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Drilon's debut graphic novel is very imaginative.

I didn't appreciate some of the stories that much because of the lack of sufficient information on the plot and characters but I've had my favorites such as Upo and The Dog, Cat and Giant Squid.

It's also cool to identify the characters on the cover once you finish the book!

[Mark Anthony Salvador · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angkop lang ang pamagat ng antolohiya: "Kare-kare Komiks." Iba-iba ang genre ng mga akda sa kalipunan. At gaya ng sa kare-kare, naghahalo ang mga imahen sa kada akda. Halimbaw, may robot na kalabaw, at may tiyan na lagusan ng mga nilalang na mananakop sa daigdig. Ang isa pang kare-kare sa antolohiya ay ang mga guhit ni Andrew Drilon. Kada akda, iba ang estilo. Parang magkakaibang tao ang gumuhit sa bawat maikling comics.

Angkop ba ang giniling na mani sa karne ng baboy at sa sawsawang bagoong? Angkop ba ang nagsasalitang sigarilyo bilang tagapagsalaysay sa hiwaga ng lungsod?

Hindi gaya ng nakasanayang luto, ngunit may sariling sarap ang kare-kare. Gaya ng antolohiya ng short comics ni Drilon.

- - -

Ang pinakanagustuhan kong akda sa antolohiya ay ang "The Dog, the Cat, and the Giant Squid." Nadama ko sa short comics na ito ang struggle, at masaya ako sa kanilang tagumpay.