(writer) Gerry Alanguilan
(artist) Arnold Arre
I've been a fan of Filipino comic book creators Gerry Alanguilan and Arnold Arre since I was a college student, and one of the things I dearly miss about my old "Multiply" page is the reviews I wrote of their work, like the acclaimed Elmer and Mythology Class.
About two or three years ago the pair of them collaborated on an eight-page online story about Filipino superhero icon Darna, a bit of self-confessed fan fiction, and it basically blew my socks off and left me with a hankering for more work from the pair of them. Gerry declared some years later that his Darna team-up with Arnold was not in the cards, and that their focus was more on creating new characters.
Instead of Darna, they've given readers "Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby" (very loosely translated as Rodksi Patotski: The Woman-Child), and I, for one, am utterly grateful.
The premise is simple enough: the title character, Roddelyn Rosario (nicknamed "Rodski"), born to Norbert and Glenda, a hard-up Filipino couple who have long prayed for children, is a bona fide genius, able to speak at infancy and able to detect a Ponzi scheme by the time she's six years old. Superstition and gullibility on the part of her parents' neighbors, who are angry with Rosarios when they are the only ones to avoid losing their money to the scam artist, nearly result in disaster for Rodski until she and her family are whisked off to a government think tank, where she spends the next eighteen years thinking up weapons for the Philippine government. In one instance, her efforts even help prevent war. Throughout all of this, Rodski, while brilliant, remains childlike, even into her twenties, and her parents actually find themselves setting her up with young men, even though Rodski herself is averse to the idea. The only men she is exposed to for a prolonged period of time are her father, her mentor Dr. Dalawangpuso, and her loyal bodyguard, Dindo.
Not long after her actions save the Philippines, however, Dr. Dalawangpuso detects a possible problem which may or may not have an impact on her intellect, and at a most inopportune time as well as her ingenuity may be needed to avert a catastrophe. The problem, is that she may be in love, and this apparently diminishes her genius-level brain power.
In a way, then, the question for Rodski is: does she choose love, or country?
Of course, there's more to the story than my fairly spoiler-free synopsis would suggest, but it's worth checking out to find out what it is.
This book is 95 pages of full-color delight, with Gerry Alanguilan delivering a fun, engaging story that both sings to fans of pop culture and is almost completely family-friendly at the same time. Coming from the creator such adult (or man-child, depending on how you view it) fare as Wasted and Elmer, this story represents a significant creative departure for Gerry, and I'm happy to report that he tells the story of this childlike prodigy as creatively and skillfully as he did his story of an angry chicken and a jilted young man. It's wonderfully whimsical, even despite or perhaps because of its fanciful depiction of a Philippines that is inordinately advanced in technology.
Alanguilan, however, is only half of the equation, as Arnold Arre, of whose work I have long been a fan, turns in some of the best work I've ever seen from him, and this time in full, glorious color. I was amused by the nods, inadvertent or otherwise, to some 90s pop culture icons like Sailor Moon and Lara Croft and by Arre's anime-inspired style in general, though I wondered at times if Rodski's choice of wardrobe could have been a little less risque for the benefit of the younger kids who should be allowed to read this wonderful volume. Anyway, it's a minor quibble, and doesn't really hurt the story overall.
Fans of the two creators, and of enjoyable comics in general should definitely pick this book up.
9/10
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