Tarantadong Kalbo Vol. 1 (December 2020)
A record of the year 2020
*Originally published in instagram.com/komiksreader last March 21, 2021.
#komiksreview of 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐨 𝟏 (December 2020)
Written & Illustrated by Kevin Eric Raymundo @tarantadongkalbo
Published by Komiket.org @komiketph
Foreword by Rob Cham (Light, Lost) @robcham
Afterword by Kevin Eric Raymundo
Softcover, Colored, 192 pages
Reading the komiks in Tarantadong Kalbo 1 is like answering board exam questions. Some are easy to get, taking only a second to answer. Some require deeper, critical thinking, and prior knowledge of current events or the latest thing in social media. But all these komiks are told within a few panels, and drawn in simple, consistent, sure lines, akin to reading newspaper editorials but definitely funnier. And there lies the genius of its writer and illustrator, Kevin Eric Raymundo.
The guy is witty, observant, and empathic, able to convey the anger and frustations of Filipino readers within the confines of a single drawing, with a dash of satire and a sprinkling of laughter. This is probably best exemplified by his drawing of a dog on top of a roof of a flood-submerged house with the caption “Nakakapagod na maging resilient”
This guy is fearless. He laughs in the face of angry reacts, and death threats but his komiks do not resort to ad-hominem attacks. He is not afraid of telling the truth, and even offers a helping hand or a dose of hope in his komiks. This guy has guts and I admire him for it.
Now that we’re going into another “not lockdown”, this book has become more relevant than ever. It is a record of 2020: “the ups, the downs, the raging against the dying of the light”, as @robcham succinctly puts it in his introduction, and it is one of the most important komiks out there today that deserves to be read.
Best time to read: today or tomorrow when the “not lockdown” starts again, and in real-time at the @tarantadongkalbo IG and FB, whenever some big news happens in our dear country.
“Yan talaga yung pinaka-ayaw ko sa lahat... Ang mabuhay sa takot.” - @tarantadongkalbo
Where to buy:
Secret HQ @komiketph
Avenida Books @myavenidaph
#tarantadongkalbo #tarantadongkalbook #komiks #filipinocomics #komiksreader