KICK FIGHTERS ASSEMBLE!

Way back in the mid-1990's, Kick Fighter Komiks was one of the most popular komiks magazines on the stands at the time.  Published by Infinity Publishing Inc., it's claim to fame was its roster of characters that were based around those from the popular Street Fighter video games. Be that as it may, the book's writers and artist still managed to exercise their creativity, giving their cast of heroes completely different backgrounds and gradually modifying their looks just enough to make them more-or-less original characters in their own right.

Another thing that made Kick Fighter unique at the time was that its characters existed in the same universe.  Although there they may been a few crossovers between Philippine comic book characters before then, they were very rare.  To my mind, there hadn't really been a serious attempt at a shared continuity among a large cast of characters from individual series until that time.

The Kick Fighters first came together in KFK's 48th issue (December 30, 1993).  With some snappy dialogue from writer Mike Tan and action-packed art by Gilbert Monsanto and Lando Inolino, this book-length adventure was billed as their "Winter Special Edition" (even though we don't really have winter here in the Philippines).

THE KICK FIGHTER KAST

BALZAUR

Alien gladiator from the planet Omicron.  Star of the serial Versus.















BIOTROG

The silver-masked bionic vigilante, star of his own self-titled series.






BLADE

From the serial Double Blade, a Special Forces commando turned mercenary.  Not to be confused with Billy the Dragon, who would later replace Blade as the magazine's resident Guile clone.

BOGA

Wisecracking high-tech hitman.  Also a character from Versus.

BRONCO

Environmentally-conscious green-skinned man-monster.  Star of the series Mysterio.

CHAN LEE

From Versus, a Shaolin monk and ally of Balzaur.
















HIRO

From Double Blade, a black ninja and Blade's former nemesis-turned reluctant partner.














HUGO

From his own self-titled series, a pro-wrestler and part-time terrorist-buster.











ISPIKIKAY

Eco-friendly teenage superheroine, star of her own self-titled series.















JOLAS ZUARES

Fil-American secret agent, star of his own series.
















KAHDDIM

Super-powered Hindu monk, from the series Kulto.














KICKERO

Bionic-eyed crime-fighting kickboxer, star of his own series.
















ULTIMAXX

From Versus, evil robot creation of the mad scientist Brain Master.  Erroneously referred to in this story as Ultramaxx.












VOLTAR

From Versus, Balzaur's electric-powered arch-foe.
















WARLORD
The villain for this issue, an insane terrorist who has declared war on peace.















 The plot involves the Warlord's scheme to  turn the entire world's population into warmongers via a mind-control device.  With some of the KF heroes (and some villains) already under the Warlord's thrall, the rest of the good guys are forced to fight their brainwashed comrades in order to save the day.

The story ends with the Warlord being driven away (he's never heard from again), and the heroes vowing to stand together against evil, gathering together for one last group shot...

Even though this was the KF characters' only full-scale crossover, the universe had been established, and the Kick Fighters went on to make frequent guest appearances in each others' series. Later, during the two KFK revamps that followed, certain sets of characters would go on to form their own teams, such as Blades and Bullets, Omni Powers and others.

KICK FIGHTER KOVERS

ISPIKIKAY (Toxic Fighter/World Protector)

To conclude National Superwomen's Month and to celebrate Earth Hour, we present... __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ispikikay first appeared in Kick Fighter Komiks (published by Infinity Publishing Inc.) in 1993. The original series was created by writer Espie Buen Gayanillo and artist Ariel Padilla. Glady Gimena later took over as writer, and some fill-in issues were drawn by Luisito G. Antonio. _______________________________________________________

ORIGIN

_______________________________________________________ While nature tripping in the forests of Palawan, teenager Charlene "Kikay" Magno encountered a fairy named Tweety Delirius. Chosen to protect the Earth's ecology, Kikay was given extraordinary powers to become the environmental superheroine Ispikikay. ____________________________________ _ _ _

POWERS AND ABILITIES

__________________________________________________________ Ispikikay has superhuman strength, speed, invulnerability, and the power of flight. She can also project force fields, shoot fireballs, and is skilled in martial arts. _____________________________________________________

CHANGE IS GOOD

I've always liked Ispikikay, though I'm not really sure why. The stories weren't special, and I thought at the time that Ariel Padilla was the worst artist ever (until I saw his most recent works. He's actually pretty good). Maybe the lighter tales were just a nice change of pace from the macho grittiness of the other Kick Fighter strips. Or maybe it's because, as much as I disliked the artwork, Kikay herself usually looked cute as a button.

Like the other Kick Fighter mainstays, Ispikikay was also based on a character from the Street Fighter video game, but modified to make her appear different. In fact, she was the most heavily-modified of all the KF characters that she would barely even resemble her SF counterpart.

THE EARTH WARRIORS

Later in the series, Kikay's friends would also be given super powers, forming the ecological super-team, the Earth Warriors.

FIRE EYE

Real Name: Joel

Power: Shoots energy blasts from his eyes.

FREEZE

Real Name: Dennis
Power: Ice-based abilities.

GIGANTA

Real Name: Lucille

Power: Grows to gigantic size.

SLASH

Real Name: Mark

Power: Razor-sharp claws on his fingers.

_

ENEMIES

DAMON

Ispikikay's arch-nemesis, an evil eco-villain who wants to destroy the environment.








THE FRIGHTFUL FIVE ___________________________Sometimes Sometimes called the Sinister Five, Damon's chief super-powered minions. The group's members are Delubya, Nucleo, Acido, Lumberjack and The Smoker.
METAMORPHO

Not to be confused with the DC Comics hero of the same name, this Metamorpho is a T2-like shape-shifting agent of the evil Damon.







THE SHADOW MEN

Evil shadows come to life.








SOLARO

A solar-powered villain hired to protect an illegal logging operation.

Wait a minute... A solar-powered character protecting a threat to the environment?! That doesn't sound right...

LIGHTNING LORD

The ruler of a race of lightning-people. Not really a bad guy, he goes on the warpath when the Earth's pollution threatens his kingdom.

CATQUICK ____________________________________________
A super-fast, acrobatic purse-snatcher.

PROFESSOR MORGAN _____________________________A mad A mad scientist who wants to dissect Ispikikay.

PROFESSOR LIBIRAN

Yet another mad scientist, dubbed "the number one enemy of nature."

__IRON COP _____________________________________A robot A A robot police officer gone renegade.

_____________________________________________________________ ALIENS _____________________ The The Earth Warriors have faced a number of alien invaders. A lot of them look alike (green-skinned, big-headed, pointy-eared), so they're probably of the same race. __________________________________________________________ 
GORDON ____
A magnetic-powered alien disguised as Kikay's hunky next-door neighbor. ___________________________________________________________KUKA ____________________
The obligatory evil twin, a robot double created by Damon. Aside from Kuka, Damon would use other evil clones against Kikay.

CROSSOVERS

Ispikikay first teamed-up with her KF co-stars in a book-length adventure for the magazine's "Winter Special Edition" 48th issue. _______________________________________

Kikay with Hugo, Boga, Biotrog and Jolas

Art by Gilbert Monsanto

When Kick Fighter was reformatted in 1995 and its characters were re-shuffled, Ispikikay (renamed "Kickay" ) was teamed with Kulto and Mysterio in a new strip entitled Quantum Zone.

Art by Lando Inolino

When KF was revamped anew in 1996, Ispikikay joined the cast of Street Kombat.

Art by Jim Jimenez

COVERS