GMA As A Skrull: The Filipino Artist Explains

Written on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at 3:50 pm | by Ding G. Gagelonia

Several posts back here at FV, Cocoy posted a frame in the Marvel Comics story Secret Invasion about GMA being portrayed as a shape-shifting alien Skrull.

As it turns out, the artist himself Leinil Francis Yu , is among FV’s readers.

His comment is instructive:

“Nothing politically tainted about GMA being there. It’s just a nod to fellow Pinoys. I will remain reticent when it comes to our local politics as it’s a delicate and divisive issue (hehehe) but the list actually includes people who I despise (Kim Jong Il, Anne Coulter), indifferent and greatly admire (Colbert, Dawkins).

“The point was for the skrulls to relay their messages via the most recognizable and influential people in different parts of the world. Take note that Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Tony Stark are there despite their established presence in the Savage Lands and non-skrull status. People see what they want to see:)”

I myself do not think Leonil and the writer of Secret Invasion had anything malicious or political to point out with including GMA. One point that is clear is how Filipinos, wherever they are, keep abreast of how their motherland is doing.

If Mrs. Arroyo herself sees the material, I would think she’d be mildly amused becoming part of pop culture. By the way, it appears that August 13th issue of Marvel Comics, has been sold out.

BTW, thanks to Cocoy for sending this writer a PDF of that issue. :)

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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7 Responses to “GMA As A Skrull: The Filipino Artist Explains”

  1. cocoy on August 18th, 2008 5:31 am

    “The point was for the skrulls to relay their messages via the most recognizable and influential people in different parts of the world. Take note that Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic and Tony Stark are there despite their established presence in the Savage Lands and non-skrull status. People see what they want to see:)”

    yep. awesome that Leinil Yu reads FV. :D

    BTW, thanks to Cocoy for sending this writer a PDF of that issue.

    Hope Marvel doesn’t sue me. LOL.

    Seriously now, speaking as a long time comic book reader, there are awesome comic books that appeal to people’s many tastes. many of the comic books today aren’t “Archie” or campy or for kids at all. There are issues of Spiderman that deal with real life ones. Just as there have been issues of comic books that dealt with drug addiction. Just as to a degree, Secret Invasion and Final Crisis reflects some of the darkness in today’s society. They’re real literature out there that are in comic book form. Like Watchmen for instance. If you’re a reader of FV, then you’re into politics and political issues, and V for Vendetta might be an interesting read.

    Hope someone new picks up his or her first comic book. It has been an awesome ride for me.

  2. benign0 on August 18th, 2008 7:57 am

    I was quite a Spidey fan back in the 80’s, particularly the Spectacular Spiderman series (the other series was the Amazing Spiderman). Spidey is the most human among the Marvel characters and Spectacular in particular devoted a significant amount of pages to his personal life.

    Then I discovered Heavy Metal magazine and its awesome Sci-Fi art and stories (my avatar, in fact is a drawing of Jimi Hendrix done by a Heavy Metal regular named Jean Giraud aka “Moebius”).

    Interestingly, one of the first graphic novels I read was The Dark Knight, which was the work that changed my whole idea of Batman from a ridiculous character (c. Adam West) into the dark multi-layered character he has developed into today.

  3. cocoy on August 19th, 2008 6:10 am

    benign0, if you liked The Dark Knight Returns go pick up Batman Year One. It was written by Frank Miller, the guy who wrote The Dark Knight Returns.

  4. juan dela cruz on August 22nd, 2008 12:36 am

    WTF! Are you a real Filipino or claiming to be a real Filipino? Yes, its not politically motivated but what you did was a disrespect to the President of the Republic of the Philippines. May I remind you that PGMA is the highest ranking official here in the Philippines and thus she must gain respect to her countrymen. I condemned what you did, I don’t care if you include their Barrack Obama and John McCain. I hope the Malacanang will do necessary action against you. This is not an issue of “freedom of speech” boy because what you did is an absolute disrespect to the President herself making her an alien through a “skrull”.

  5. GMA as villain in Marvel comics | The Manila Mail on September 2nd, 2008 9:46 pm

    […] read more about this posting, click the links below: GMA As A Skrull: The Filipino Artist Explains Oh my God, GMA is a Skrull!?! SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “GMA as villain in Marvel comics”, […]

  6. jtmtzrwj on September 4th, 2008 6:59 am

    WTF are you talking about Juan Dela Cruz, it was a frakin’ in-joke, one that would make Filipino comic readers go “cool” I’m not defending Yu here, in fact I sometimes don’t like his art on New Avengers, but this isn’t something that is in bad taste. It was a nod to him being a Filipino.

    On a side note: The Skrull empire impersonating GMA would only mean that she is one influential and powerful human.

  7. Calvin’s Hub » What?? PGMA is a Skrull? on September 13th, 2008 1:18 pm

    […] Now don’t get offended. It’s quite amusing that PGMA is now a part of pop culture. Here’s what Lionel has to say about his inclusion of our president (from Filipino Voices): […]

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