Review - The Filipino Heroes League, Book One: Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones

May break my bones

But words will never hurt me.

- Children's rhyme

The Filipino Heroes League is set in a world where men in capes are regarded with casualness and where supervillains are able to serve as dictators of a nation. Specifically, the story finds itself set in a Philippines quite close to our own, yet something is different, far different. In this version of our poverty-stricken archipelago, superhero-ism is a profession that is not venerated and crime fighting groups are not idolized by many.

In the middle of this absurd scenario lies the Filipino Heroes League (FHL). First impression tells that the artist might have lacked some imagination when it comes to character designs. It is not Fabregas’ fault, however, but the fault of the country’s lack of support for these fictional crime fighters. During these times when people would choose to support overseas talents such as Maria Aragon and Thia Megia (neither of which fluent in our language), our local talents often find themselves plastered in the background, branded with the tiresome impressionistic labels such as jologs or baduy. The comic begins with the news overlooking the FHL’s courageous feat of saving thousands of people from a fire in exchange for a full coverage of an Overseas Filipino Hero (OFH) becoming the sidekick of a famous superhero abroad. It is a promising premise that is not actually given much exploration, yet it is perfectly understandable why, as the story finds itself with only a few pages dealing with getting to know each character and knowing more about the threats. Hopefully the next book will delve more on our infamous crab mentality.

The comic focuses more on Hero vs. Society rather than Hero vs. Evil. It employs themes which made Watchmen a huge success, but it does so with a certain sensibility. For starters, it never forces its "Filipino-ness." Most of the FHL’s actions all throughout the comic are heavily influenced by what the entire country has imposed upon them. Halfway through they find themselves on the run from the law after a nasty frame-up, proving how susceptible the group is right from the start.

Overall, this is an incomplete yet satisfying first book, though the word “incomplete” is something more of a compliment rather than a stab. It is incomplete because the average reader yearns for more. The lack of answers and the huge amount of questions presented by this first book make us beg for the next.

And you might have already heard of the part where the heroes ride a pedicab to pursue some bad guys. It recently won the Komikon 2011 Award for the Best Comic Scene. That part alone is already an indication that someone needs to turn The Filipino Heroes League into a movie as soon as possible.

You can read the preview here.