Legion of Super-Heroes by Brian Michael Bendis!

Legion of Super-Heroes

Last 2019 I had the opportunity to meet Brian Michael Bendis. Back then, he was working on a secret project. Not yet revealed to the world. When he knew that I came all the way from the Philippines to join his signing event, he graciously let me in on the secret project. It was this book. The Legion of Super-Heroes. This series is special in a lot of ways for me because not only was I one of the first to know about this series’ existence, but it also happens to feature the first appearance of a Filipino DC Character. The Gold Lantern. Too much connection for me. From probably the first Filipino to actually know about the project. To having a Filipino Character, the Gold Lantern to first appear in this book extensively (he had a cameo on the 2019 series Superman no. 14). When Brian showed me the photo, he however failed to tell me that there was actually a Filipino character on the Legion line up. But maybe the nationality wasn't fixed yet at that time. So maybe the nationality was inspired by..... nah.... too much coincidence already. LOL! Anyhow,  A TV series is in the works for HBO MAX…. I'm just glad to finally be able to complete the whole series. Best of Luck Brian!

Check out the Variant Covers of the whole series, from the two-part primer Millennium issue 1and 2, to the complete 12 issue Legion of Super-Heroes series by Brian Michael Bendis. And of course, the bio of the Gold Lantern which appeared extensively in issue number 6 of this series! 

Ever wondered why the Filipino DC Character is a Gold Lantern? The Gold Lantern draw their power from their members' unfathomable happiness and joy. And Filipinos are basically renowned in the world as one of the happiest people on Earth. DC got it right!

 Source for Filipinos as among the happiest people on Earth: PH third happiest country in the world - Gallup survey | ABS-CBN News

Man Hua: Hong Kong's answer to Manga and Western Comics

Jademan Comics' initial U.S. Comic Book offering

Lately, I encountered some cheap comic books that kind of rekindled my memory of my trips to Hong Kong during my younger years. I could still vividly remember when I was strolling on the side streets of Hong Kong where I encountered some fascinating Chinese comic books being sold on the news stands alongside newspapers and magazines. I was captivated by the fine looking art of detailed action and violence that I have never seen in a comic book before. Though I never could read Chinese texts, the art that I saw was enough for me to try out the comic books, especially during the heyday of the Street Fighter II arcade games. Published under the imprint Jademan Comics, my curiosity for these comic books amp up when I saw Chinese Comic Books of the hit arcade game. Being a 12 year old kid with no money but with a few pocket change, I purchased my first two Hong Kong Comic Books, both Street Fighter comic books. Now 25 years later, I encountered these comic books once more thru this Jademan Comic Book called Kung Fu Special. But this time, in English translations. 

Kung Fu Special served as a primer for the U.S. comic book market to get to know what Man Hua comic books are. The book previews four initial Jademan Comic Book offerings set to be released in the U.S. Market. Curious to know more about these books, I decided to do a little research to give myself more information about these books. And one name stood out. Tony Wong, the so called Stan Lee of Asia!        

Tony Wong on top of his game

Tony Wong started his comic book career from the ground up. Doing errands as a copy boy for publishing companies which brought his love for comic books to the next level. Writing and drawing his comic books at such a young age, he found a measure of success when his juvenile stories caught the attention of the Hong Kong comic book readers. This led him to start his own comic book publishing company, Jademan Comics and his dreams to become the Walt Disney of Asia. His comic book style draws heavily on ultra violent Kung Fu fighting imagery and also dwell on the sexual violence against women. I could still remember being exposed to a Street Fighter comic book story his company released where Chun-Li is being raped by M. Bison. While Tony is being recognized as the Stan Lee of Asia, familiar problems in the U.S. comic book industry such as credit grabbing and ghost writing is also a common occurrence in Hong Kong, even so that Tony was even found guilty of credit grabbing Ma Wing Shing's (more about him later) creation, The Blood Sword.     

The very first Jademan Comic Book I bought way back in the 90's

Jademan's Street Fighter

As shown in the picture above, this was just one of those artworks that captivated me when I first laid my eyes on a Jademan Comic Book. The Art Style of Man Hua comic books are very much different when compared to the Japanese Manga Comic Books, which are usually drawn in a more cartoonish style. I could probably say that Man Hua is a blend of Japanese Manga and Western Comics in the sense that the characters' art style are grounded in realism. But Man Hua didn't actually started off that way. In fact, Tony Wong's art during his younger years resembled those of Osamu Tezuka, the Japanese illustrator and cartoonist who created Astroboy.

Tony Wong's Drunken Fist. A sample of his earlier work

Tony Wong's Oriental Heroes showing an improvement of his art style as compared to Drunken Fist

As you can see in the Drunken Fist Comic, the art is far off from what Man Hua is now. The art is not yet as sophisticated as it is now. You could clearly see a disproportionate anatomy where the character looks like a boy in an adult's body. But like all artists, Tony Wong's art improved along the way. And I wouldn't be surprised if Ma Wing Shing had a hand on it. Ma Wing Shing is largely being said as Hong Kong's answer to Jim Lee. He revolutionized the way Man Hua is being written and drawn through his Blood Sword Comic Book series. Working under Tony Wong's guidance at Jademan Comics, Ma Wing Shing would write and draw an exciting action packed sword fighting Martial Arts epic. But just like Jim Lee, Ma at the height of his popularity left Jademan to form his own Comic Book company called Jonesky.

Interior art of Oriental Heroes

Going back with what I said before, Tony Wong's signature style is one of ultra Kung Fu violence and you could clearly see it in the panel above. The exciting action packed art is quite appealing to martial arts fans. The amount of detail with how Tony executed his martial arts drawing is quite mesmerizing. You could basically feel the power of the punches and kicks leap out of the pages of the comic books. Oriental Heroes is perhaps Tony Wong's most popular comic book to date that there was even a Hong Kong movie adaptation of this comic book released and re-titled in theaters as Dragon-Tiger Gate with Donnie Yen (of IP Man fame) playing the lead role. The story of this comic book appeals to our Asian sensitivities because the stories are relatable in the sense that the setting and the plot threads involves Hong Kong Triad mafia stories set in modern Asia. Though I never was able to finish the book (because complete copies of this book is hard to come by), I could feel the compelling story being told thru the random issues that I was able to read. It also helped that I was able to read the final two issues of the comic book series. Good thing also that Tony Wong managed to bring in veteran comic book writer Mike Baron to do the English translations. And being a Kung Fu fan himself, Baron must have gotten a kick writing the English translations of this book.  

This is how Man Hua comic books look like nowadays

Oriental Heroes ended at Issue number 55. And by this time you could largely see the amount of improvement the art has achieved as seen in the photo above. This was the kind of art that I encountered in the streets of Hong Kong that compelled me to buy a Man Hua book many years back. These English translations and releases that I own now by the way are straight up reprint from the original series with Mike Baron doing the translations. I however don't know the amount of success that these books achieved in the U.S. market but probably enough for Jademan Comics to continue releasing the books until the very end. However in the latter part of Jademan's publishing career, Tony Wong was jailed for forgery. Now in jail, Wong was forced out from the company that he built, with the company still publishing his creations. Unfortunately the Jademan Wong magic was never rekindled without Wong's guidance. Thus started the downfall of Jademan comics. 

Mega Dragon and Tiger, Tony Wong's return to the U.S. comic book scene

In 1993, Tony Wong would later be released from jail, just in time for the closure of Jademan Comics' U.S. operations. But Wong lost the rights of his creations, this however did not deter Wong from continuing his comic book writing and illustrating career. Creation of new stories under a new imprint called Jademan Dynasty would allow Wong to have a career resurgence in Hong Kong, even getting a chance to release a creator owned series in the U.S. under Image Comics, the third biggest comic book publisher in the U.S.

A sampling of the interior work of Tony Wong for Mega Dragon and Tiger

Mega Dragon and Tiger lasted for 5 issues and had a cliffhanger ending that wanted me to get to know about the story more. Set in a Post Apocalyptic world where Earth is now an Utopia, Individuals are engaged in a gladiatorial battle to determine the best of the best. The comic book is like your typical Martial Arts comic book with tons and tons of epic Kung Fu battles. Fans of Martial Arts in general would surely love the comic book because Tony Wong has greatly improved his art style, giving us a blend of oriental fighting art form and scenes of technological advancement as this series is set in a future Earth. The artwork is breath taking and I could probably say that this is the final evolution of Man Hua's illustration style. The distinct Chinese art style that distinguishes it from the cartoony Manga and the more grounded art of Western Comics. Perhaps a combination of both influences even.  

Tony Wong brings Sexy to a whole new different level when compared to his old works

But since this is still a Tony Wong Comic Book, old habits die hard as we are still treated to some sexual imagery as seen above, though he has toned down his antics as compared to his older works. But his improved art style greatly veered his presentations of this nature from being crass and crude to a thing of beauty. He even draws beautiful women now compared to his old simplistic style.

Tony Wong's Ultraman

Interior art for UltraMan Tiga

Tony Wong's success in the U.S. continued to roll when Dark Horse Comics (a comic book publishing company that specializes in movie/T.V. licensed properties) published Wong's UltraMan maxi-series. UltraMan is one of Asia's most recognizable Superheroes, and by getting the license, this helped reintroduce its popularity in the U.S. shores. Tony Wong served as the writer of this series but as you can see in the interior art above, the illustrator Khoo Fu Lung (Wong's frequent collaborator for Jademan Dynasty's Solar Lord) clearly is heavily influenced by Wong. Even during Wong's heyday at Jademan Comics, it has been largely known that Wong frequently hires illustrators to mimic his style just to meet the publishing deadlines. In the comic book and illustration circles, this practice is popularly known as "House Style", a publishing company's initiative to maintain a certain imagery that would make their comic books achieve a distinct style that would last over the years. Archie Comics and Disney Animation Studios are just some of the biggest companies who practices this.   

Chinese Ad for Batman: Hong Kong

Batman Hong Kong

Tony Wong's creeping success finally hits an all time high when DC Comics (Top 2 with Marvel Comics as the biggest U.S. Comic Book publishing company) hired him to do the illustration chores for Batman: Hong Kong. Paired with long time Batman scribe Doug Moench (whose Batman works mostly revolves around mystery and suspense), Wong finally got his hands on a major American Pop Culture Icon as his next illustrating gig. And this project hits quite at home for Wong because this Batman epic would be set in Wong's own backyard, Hong Kong. So imagine the great opportunity to witness a major American Pop Culture Icon being illustrated and styled by Asia's most influential Man Hua artist. Fireworks would surely be found aplenty and I was totally blown away from the sight of Batman being rendered in Man Hua style. Batman fighting against the Hong Kong triad set in Hong Kong where Kung Fu is big probably feels like Bruce Lee's invasion of Hollywood. Not only that, Wong was even able to create his first DC Comics character (however short lived), Night Dragon. I just hope that this Character would not be forgotten to obscurity as DC seemed to forget about this character. Hopefully Wong owns the rights of this character and he gets to resurrect him in his own comic book. Having being able to fight and work with a character's magnitude as Batman makes your character legit. Posted below are some of Wong's interior art for Batman.

Tony Wong's Batman

Kung Fu Batman

Is this the last appearance of Night Dragon?

Taking a break for a moment with anything related to Tony Wong (but I'm warning you this guys just seemed determine not to go away), let's venture our topic to Ma Wing Shing. Ma got his big break in comic books when his The Blood Sword comic book series was published by Jademan Comics. The Blood Sword is a martial arts sword fighting epic that was prevalent to Chinese action films before the birth of Kung Fu movies. Culturally, Ma's work is rooted in the old Chinese culture as compared to Jademan's other Kung Fu geared releases. The Blood Sword was so popular in Hong Kong that Jademan Comics even released a spin off series The Blood Sword Dynasty even without the guidance of Ma. Tony Wong even dastardly credit grabbed The Blood Sword in his initial release in the U.S. Market as seen in the Kung Fu Special Comic Book. Though he would later correct it in The Blood Sword's official U.S. release. Since The Blood Sword rights was lost to Jademan, Ma broke away from the company during Jademan Comics dying years to form his own Comic Book company, Jonesky, which releases english translations of epic Asian Comic Books apart from company owned projects.

My one and only Storm Riders comic book

Ma Wing Shing's biggest hit to date is Storm Riders. And this book was his initial offering for his new company. Storm Riders was so popular in Hong Kong that it became a multi-media hit, spawning Motion Pictures, T.V. Series, animated series, and even video games. This book holds a special place in my heart because I remember when I was a kid I was first introduced to Storm Riders through its first major Motion Picture movie. I could recall countless reruns watching this movie on VCD because me and my brothers were captivated by the awesome action sequences and fantasy elements that the movie offered.

Storm Riders DVD that captivated me back in the day

Interior art for Storm Riders

Ma Wing Shing's rockstar popularity is greatly credited for revolutionizing Man Hua's illustration style. Because Tony Wong stuck to his "House Style" approach to his Man Hua creations, this stunted the growth and evolution of Man Hua artists because basically Wong controlled 80 to 90% of Hong Kong's comic book industry. Ma's creator owned The Blood Sword comic book series veered away from Wong's "House Style" approach because he had a free hand to work on this book because he created the book. His evolution would come full circle when he left Jademan to form Jonesky, an even more freer avenue to further improve his craft. The success of Jonesky however would lead Ma to take a more Businessman role than as an artist (something akin to Jim Lee's current role with DC when he sold his creator owned Wildstorm studios to DC). With newer releases focused more on popular licensed Manga characters that he could import in the U.S. in English translations. In the end Man Hua is defined by the influential work of these two artists, Tony Wong and Ma Wing Shing, their body of work are important key pieces in understanding and appreciating the history of Man Hua. I will be leaving behind some Pin Up artworks from some of the most popular names to ever come out from the Man Hua comic book industry. Hope you enjoyed this entry.

Tony Wong's earlier Art Style

Recent work on Mega Dragon and Tiger by Tony Wong

Mega Dragon and Tiger by Tony Wong

Ultraman Tiga by frequent Tony Wong collaborator Khoo Fuk Lung

Ma Wing Shing's earlier work for The Blood Sword

Ma Wing Shing's recent works on Storm Riders

Storm Riders by Ma Wing Shing

Ma Wing Shing on Storm Riders

Final issue count of Jademan Comics initial run in the U.S.

DC Rebirth is making more things exciting in the DC Universe again!

DC Rebirth

So yes, I have never been shy about my disdain for DC's New 52 reboot after they did not properly put an end to the old DC Universe by coming up instead with a haphazard way of introducing their new Universe via a Flash centric event called Flashpoint. They tried to rectify that mistake by introducing Convergence, their effort to finally tie up the loose ends of their old continuities dating back from the Bronze Age until the the Post Crisis continuities. But a year after Convergence, they are rebooting (or to be correct Re-birthing) their entire Universe again. The DC brain trusts however are not saying that this is a reboot, in fact they have a brilliant master plan as to how to explain the recent constant interruptions of their Universe. Geoff Johns is the handpicked man for the job, and I'm in full support with the direction that he is taking the entire DC Universe with him (though controversial choices were made as to the one responsible for the disruption of the DC continuity, which I will explain later). Johns has been credited for resuscitating almost dead (in popularity) characters like the like of Green Lantern, Flash, and Justice Society of America to name a few. And since writing those titles, those characters managed to gain back the lost popularity they once possess. So I have big confidence that under Johns, he would be able to right all the wrongs committed by the New 52 blunder.

The Death of the New 52 Superman

The big changes began when DC decided to bring back the Post Crisis Superman (which is my Superman by the way) in the Convergence event. paving the way for the existence of two Supermen. The New 52 Superman's existence was left in question when DC decided to give the old Superman a comic book series of his own. Somehow, in their drive to make the New Superman more interesting and relatable, DC bombarded him with so many perilous challenges by even introducing a new super power ability, the Solar Flare. This ability is explained as the dispensing of the solar power charged within the New Superman's body, dispensing an explosive solar outburst but left the New Superman discharged from the solar energies which renders him powerless, and almost human. Countless adventures were written with a de-powered Superman which ironically had him clothed in a Superman T-Shirt and jeans, mirroring his first appearance in the New 52 universe when he was still starting his career as a superhero. And when the final plans of Rebirth were concocted in a secret location in the war room of the DC offices, the final fate of the New Superman was signed and delivered. The New 52 Superman will have to regain his powers no matter the costs and eventually consigning himself to die after all of the sacrifices hat he has made. And in his final adventure, he would battle it out against a Solar energy Superman by the name of Denny Swan (a mash up of Dennis O' Neil and Curt Swan, two of the Pre-Crisis Superman's greatest creative brains). This battle, along with the appearance of the Post-Crisis Superman, was a subtle impromptu battle between three generations of Supermen. With the Post-Crisis Superman emerging as the only one alive in the aftermath of the battle of the Supermen. This would set the stage for the Post-Crisis Superman to retake the mantle as the lone Superman of the DC Universe (or so we thought?).  

Three generations of Superheroes trapped in time

DC Rebirth meanwhile tells the story of Wally West, the Post-Crisis Flash who somehow was forgotten in the whole New 52 brouhaha. His sudden return to the DC Universe (albeit with no one remembering his existence) would create repercussions in the DC Universe as they try to solve the mystery why all of a sudden 10 years of their memories (as well as relationships) were wiped from existence. DC Rebirth would take us into a journey of one emotional ride as we meet old friends, rekindle old relationships, appreciate Legacy, and start relearning how beautiful it is to HOPE again. This however does not diminish the need to discover a whole new universe ahead as mysteries begins to pile up. And what better way to fix the DC Universe by starting with the Watchmen again. Now I know and fully understand how this very divisive decision had made some comic book fans feel agitated with the decision of DC to bring back the Watchmen and be a part of the DC Universe. I mean this is a consistent New York times top selling book which continues to remain a classic even now. This is perhaps the Sacred Cow of all the graphic novels that ever existed. And utilizing these characters in the present times might only diminish the historical value and importance of these characters specially if a bumbling story teller would ruin these characters. But we have to admit, the Dark Ages (or when heroes began dealing with real world situations) of the Comic Book genre began when Watchmen soared to fan approval as the demand of lesser funny books and more mature themed comic books were needed back in the 80's. Watchmen made our heroes bleed, they made our heroes real enough to be caught in dilemmas that we ourselves struggle in our daily lives. They made our heroes succumb to the intricate philosophies of the world. They made our heroes human. And there was no problem with that. Because for the first time since the super heroes' inception, they became a visual reflection of the real world politics. And I have no problem with that. But as a storytelling narrative, it makes perfect sense that Dr. Manhattan is involved. That the Watchmen characters are involved. Because their success brought about the current storytelling style that are prevalent in comic books nowadays.

With Rebirth now being started, the Post-Crisis Superman is brought to the forefront as the Superman of the DC Universe once more. Last seen on his own limited-monthly series since the events of Convergence (where Lois Lane gave birth to their son, Jonathan Kent), Superman juggles his superhero duties under the shadow of the New Superman while starting a family of his own. His new born baby Jonathan Samuel Kent, now 5 year old is beginning to grow suspicious about his father's alter ego, while also discovering that he has emerging super powers on his own. Superman: Rebirth is a very pleasing jumping on point for New 52 Superman fans who never had any idea who the Post-Crisis Superman was. The issue even highlights the Death and Return of the Post-Crisis Superman, perhaps offering a glimpse of hope that the New 52 Superman might even come back from the dead. There are rumors that the New 52 Superman might be resurrected under a new persona, a Chinese Superman, but the developments for this is one bear watching. Superman's son is also the new Superboy. I think the current plans for Superman is exactly what I wanted DC to do when they announced the New 52. I think down the road, it would be better to eventually replace Superman with his own son, and I think that's more acceptable to the majority of Superman fans if DC's intention is to come up with a younger Superman that the new generation of Superman fans can relate more to.

Reign of Supermen two?

I also have a special liking to the redesigned Superman costume despite the absence of the classic red trunks, and now the red boots. Somehow this costume is bringing us a closer resemblance to the costume of the current Superman movieverse Man of Steel (sans the red boots). I never really liked the New 52 Superman costume and preferred the movie's costume better. I guess it was because beforehand in the New 52 reboot, DC was pretty much vague if the New 52 Superman costume was composed of armor or not. And there were pretty much inconsistencies in the art work where one artist drew is as an armor and another drew it as a synthetic cloth or whatever material that was left unexplained. It really does have a Henry Cavill feel in the visuals seen on the left. Of all the superheroes from both Marvel and DC, it seems that only Superman has never had a makeover that updated his costume and appearance. There were some attempts in the past, but none really stuck and artists continued to revert back to drawing him in his classic duds. Classic characters like Batman, Captain America, and the likes had subtle makeovers to update their looks, but Superman without the red trunks seems unacceptable to die hard fans. I think this has to change. And the Rebirth costume is one that I really like to update his looks. Though this is alien looking than let's say the classic spandex look of Superman but this feels right at home with the current times.


One last trivia of information that I have noticed is that the Rebirth Superman seems to be inspired by the 90's DC Elseworlds Story, Son of Superman. In Son of Superman, Clark and Lois had a son named Jonathan Kent which they hid the identity of Superman as his father. Jonathan Kent would eventually discover his powers and goes on a search to find Superman as he literally grew up without a father. Once he found Superman, Superman would reveal his identity to his son and both embarked on a mission to save the world. Superman even wore the black costume that he is wearing in the New 52 Universe. In the end, Superman would bequeath to his son his costume, paving the way for a new Superman. Now this was not part of any continuity since this was only an Elseworld Story, but personally it is one of my favorite Superman story when it comes to Superman retiring his cape in favor of his son. With Rebirth on the horizon, and with DC's plans of making Jonathan Kent a regular fixture in Superman's adventures (as well as having his own book with Damian Wayne Robin, titled Supersons), I wonder if DC ever took a page at the book for inspirations in their Superman Rebirth plans. So yes, interesting times are indeed within the horizon of the DC Universe once again.