Alyas BATMAN Forever

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the world certainly loves its superheroes.  And just as there is a Japanese Spider-Man, a Turkish Captain America (what?) and about a couple Indian Supermen, the Philippines likewise has had, not one, but several Filipino Batmen.

Selected images from Video 48

Since the mid-1960's, there have been a number of Filipino films that were based on (or as my dear friend Mr. Anonymous would prefer, ripped-off from) DC Comics' Caped Crusader.  One would think, and rightfully so, that these movies were meant to capitalize on the Batmania craze launched by the campy 1966-68 television series, but it seems we've been at it even before that.  The first Pinoy Batman movie, Alyas Batman at Robin appears to have been released in 1965, a year before the TV show was first broadcast.  This version starred actor Bob Soler, who had previously portrayed the original Captain Barbell.  Another local Bat-film from the same year was Batman Fights Dracula, predating the the actual official meeting between the Dark Knight and the Prince of Darkness by 26 years.

One of the more well-known Pinoy Bat-movies is 1966's James Batman.  Parodying two popular 1960's trends, it starred the late Filipino Comedy King Dolphy in a dual role as both James Bond and Batman (It gets a little confusing when he appears out of costume, as it's hard to tell if he's playing "Bond" or "Bruce Wayne"). Rather interesting, if a bit weird film.  The action scenes are pretty good, and it's surprisingly violent for a comedy spoof.

Another odd one was 1973's Fight Batman Fight!, starring singer Victor Wood in the title role, a young Roderick Paulate as Robin, and Rod Navarro as a mustachioed, makeup-less Joker.  During that film's climax, Batman literally goes to Hell and has a fistfight with Satan himself (played by devilish character actor Romy Diaz in bright red tights!).

There was also a Batwoman and Robin movie in 1972 featuring mother-and-son team Virginia and Robin Aristorenas.  It was apparently popular enough to spawn two sequels, Batwoman and Robin Meet the Queen of the Vampires and Johnny Joker.  I've only seen the first one on TV when I was younger, and unfortunately, the last time I saw it, all the color had gone murky red.  So that's one more rare film lost to the ravages of time.

Coming full-circle, the last Pinoy Batman movie has a similar title as the first: Alyas Batman en Robin.  Released in 1991, it had actually been in production since even before Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie premiered, but was delayed by a lawsuit from DC Comics.  Eventually, the producers came to some sort of agreement with DC, and the film was finally shown a few years later.

This version starred comedian Joey de Leon, already famous for spoofing other popular characters in movies such as Starzan: Shouting Star of the Jungle, Long Ranger and Tonton: Shooting Stars of the West, and She-Man: Mistress of the Universe.  Alyas Batman riffed mainly on the 1960's TV show, but it did have certain similarities to another incarnation of the Caped Crusader, one that would come some 4 years later: Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever.

What follows is a comparison of scenes from the 2 films.

Alyas Batman en Robin (ABR): 
Comedian Rene Requiestas plays a Joker-obsessed high school student (in his 30's) who is jealous of his classmate (Keempee de Leon, son of Joey), a handsome Robin fan who gets all the girls.  He later becomes a cane-twirling Joker-wannabe and teams up with his gangster uncle, T'yo Paenguin (Panchito Alba).

Batman Forever (BF):
Comedian Jim Carrey plays a TV-obsessed scientist who is jealous of Bruce Wayne (Val Kilmer).  He later becomes a cane-twirling villain, the Riddler, and teams up with the disfigured gangster, Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones).


ABR:
When Robin first appears in costume, Batman notices the "R" on his uniform (which resembles the Regal Films logo).

BF:
When Robin (Chris O'Donnell) first appears in costume, Batman notices the "R" on his uniform.


ABR:
Robin is courting a girl when all of her other suitors show up wearing identical Robin costumes.

BF:
Dick Grayson and his family all wear identical costumes (Okay, I guess this is a bit of a stretch).


ABR:
Batman falls in love with a female reporter (Dawn Zulueta) and later visits her in her bedroom.

BF:
Batman falls in love with psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman) and later visits her in her bedroom.


ABR:
Having fallen in love, Batman decides to retire from crime-fighting.  Upset, Robin goes solo.

BF:
Having fallen in love, Bruce decides to retire from crime-fighting.  Upset, Dick runs away.


ABR:
Joker and Paenguin kidnap the lady reporter.  Robin gets shot trying to stop them.

BF:
Riddler and Two-Face kidnap Dr. Meridian.  Bruce gets shot trying to stop them.


ABR:
Near the end of the film, Paenguin and Joker are sent to prison, but later escape and disguise themselves as Batman and Robin, respectively.

BF:
Near the end of the film, the Riddler is committed to Arkham Asylum, where he insanely proclaims "I'M BATMAN!" (Again, I admit this is a stretch)


Bear in mind that ABR came out in 1991 while BF was released in 1995.  So, is this all just a wild coincidence, or was Schumacher ripping-off a rip-off?  After all, it's not as though ABR was this super-obscure foreign film that no one in the United States had ever heard of.  In fact, the American comic book news magazine Hero Illustrated even did a brief write-up on it in its November 1994 issue.

 
Whether or not Joel Schumacher had indeed swiped from ABR is anybody's guess.  But if he did, then there's one part of the movie which, given Schumacher's campy sensibilities, I'm surprised that he never incorporated.

A musical number.



Disturbing indeed.

ELIAS PANIKI - The Men Behind the Bat

Image from Video 48

Ang Mahiwagang Daigdig ni Elias Paniki ("The Mystical World of Elias Bat") was a 1989 movie directed by komiks writer-turned film director Carlo J. Caparas.  It starred veteran actor-senator Ramon Revilla, who carved his career portraying characters who possessed magical amulets or agimat.  In this film, he played the title role of Elias, a vampire slayer who derived his power from the petrified bat attached to his headband.

 KNIGHT OF BAT-ASSERY

Now, we've bashed CJC here a few times, and certainly this film won't go down as a great masterpiece in the history of Philippine Cinema.  But still, it did have at least one moment of badassery.  I mean, what other vampire slayer actually waits for his prey inside its own coffin?

NEW BAT-TIME, NEW BAT-CHANNEL

In 2009, the ABS-CBN Network launched Agimat: Ang Mga Alamat ni Ramon Revilla ("Amulet: The Legends of Ramon Revilla"), which adapted a number of classic Revilla films for television.  One of these was a re-imagining of Elias Paniki.

The series starred Jake Cuenca in a dual role as Elias (a witch-hunting albularyo in this version) and his own evil warlock father, Armando.  It ran for 13 episodes from May 29 to August 21, 2010.

JAPANESE BAT

Continuing Bat-Month, meet the  Dark Knight of the Rising Sun.  Created by writer/illustrator Hal Santiago, Japanese Bat ran from 1988 to 1989 in Shogun Qualikomiks Magasin, published by Graphic Arts Service, Inc.

SIOPAWMAN Meets BATHMAN

For this August, it's Bat-Month, where we'll be taking a look at characters who were either inspired*  by a certain Caped Crusader or just happened to have something to do with bats in general.

*Yes, Mr. Anonymous, I am using the word inspired.  DEAL WITH IT.

In these early '80's newspaper strips by legendary cartoonist Larry Alcala, his rotund superhero Siopawman encounters an obsessed millionaire who stalks the night in the pursuit of-- bathing?

LILIT BULILIT: Spider-Mang Ke

To close out Spider-Month, lets see what web of mischief Lilit Bulilit has gotten herself entangled into this time.

GAGAMBINO

Gagambino first appeared in the first issue of OFW Super-Stories (September 14, 2007), one of Carlo J. Caparas' short-lived line of komiks magazines published by Sterling Publishing.  As written by Caparas and illustrated by Karl Comendador, Bino was a hard-working, mild-mannered janitor who just happened to keep a giant carnivorous spider for a pet.

WEB COMICS

The comic version of Bino did not possess any special abilities.  He was just an average joe who relied on his pet to bail him out of trouble.

WEB TV

In 2008, Gagambino was adapted into a television series which aired weeknights on the GMA Network, premiering on October 20th of that year.


The premise of the show, as near as I can remember it, is as follows: ages ago, a radioactive meteor crashed to Earth, causing several insects in the vicinity to grow to gigantic size.  A blacksmith then took what's left of the meteor and forges it into a sword-- whoops, sorry, wrong story.  No, the meteor was forged into a spider-shaped medallion which gave its wearer mystical powers, as well as control over the giant insects.  Using the medallion, the giant insects were banished into an underground cavern, which in time became overrun with other giant mutated creatures and plant life.

The medallion was then handed down through generations.  However, the one next-in-line to be the medallion's keeper, a woman named Abresia, had turned to the dark side and sought to use its power for evil.  Meanwhile, a group of children had stumbled onto the strange underground realm, encountering the giant insects and gaining their powers in the process.  One of them, a boy named Bino, also earned the friendship of a friendly giant spider, nicknamed "Gamby."  Years later, Bino and his childhood friends must reunite and form the Liga Insekta ("League of Insects") to do battle with the malevolent villainess.

 Unlike in the comics, the TV version of Gagambino is depicted as more of a traditional costumed superhero.  Also, Gamby the Spider is a kinder, gentler giant in comparison to his more vicious comic counterpart.  To illustrate this, his eight eyes are even arranged to form a smiley face!

WEB CAST

GAGAMBINO

  Actor Dennis Trillo plays Bino Bayani alias Gagambino.  While he does not spin webs or stick to walls like an actual spider, he does possess the proportional strength and agility of one.  He can leap great heights and has an advanced healing ability.  He can also grow sharp spines on his forearms.  As a child, he exhibited the ability to grow fangs, but he hardly used this power as an adult.  He is also skilled in the martial arts.

He's also a bit of a jerk.  For one thing, he doesn't seem too motivated in being a superhero (as if your parents' murder isn't motivation enough).  Also, he cheats on his girlfriend, which causes her to go nuts and turn evil.  More on her later.

 

LADY MANTISA

Actress Katrina Halili usually gets typecast in bad girl roles, but she gets to play the heroine for once as sexy starlet (call her a bold star and she'll kill you) Lucy Gutierrez, also known as Lady Mantisa.  In fact, she ends up being the most heroic character on the show.  As Lady Mantisa, she can transform her hands into razor-sharp mantis claws.

 ALAKDANESSA

Isabel Oli plays Bernadette Albuento, codenamed Alakdanessa.  She has a venomous thrashing scorpion tail hidden in her hair.

SUPER BEE

Glaiza de Castro is Leah Albuento a.k.a. Super Bee (Really, these codenames aren't the best, but I guess they must be running out of ideas at this point).  She sprouts large bee wings on her back which enable her to fly.

ZANDRO

The guardian of the spider-medallion.  Portrayed by Leo Martinez.














DR. HYDE

Played by Emilio Garcia, a disfigured scientist who creates the Liga's costumes and gadgets.  Love that rocking helmet.  They later gave him a new one that exposed half his face, but it didn't look as cool as the original.

ABRESIA

Scary is the new sexy?

Jean Garcia is Divina/Abresia, the show's main antagonist.  Well, for the first half of the series anyway.  She had the power to control swarms of locusts whose bite could turn people into zombies.  She could also fire bolts of energy and, using the spider-medallion, could even resurrect people from the dead.  Then she lost her powers, turned good, got married and lived happily ever after.  Which kinda sucks because it was basically her fault that the other villains turned bad. Yet she gets to have a happy ending?

HAROLD

Polo Ravales is Harold Santiago or-- just plain Harold.  He has super strength, invulnerability, and huge beetle wings which give him the ability to fly.  One of Bino's childhood friends, he decides to be a bad guy instead.  Probably upset that everyone has a cool codename while he's stuck with "Harold."  And that goofy headgear.






CELINE

Gotta feel sorry for this girl.  Played by Nadine Samonte, Celine Lopez was supposed to be the show's love interest.  Then she found out her mother was secretly the evil insect queen Abresia.  Later, she found out she wasn't her real daughter after all, causing her mom to flat out abandon her (and this was after she turned good!).  And on top of that, her boyfriend, the big-shot superhero star of the show, was cheating on her!  Can you blame her for going insane and turning into a supervillainess? 

PETER

Who the heck is Peter?  A very minor character, really, just some news photographer guy who shows up every once in a while.  Just felt like mentioning him since he's such an obvious nod to a certain other photographer dude with an affinity for arachnids.


One last thing I'd like to point out just because, this show also appeared to be a strong supporter of cremation.  Every time a character died, they would burn the body in the backyard.

To close this overview, here are two more Gagambino clips, though they're not actually from the show itself.  They appear to be fight scene test-footage performed by Dennis Trillo himself.

TARA TARANTULA The Spider Lady

Tara Tarantula: The Spider Lady first appeared in the pages of Kamandag Illustrated Magazine (published by Counterpoint Komiks & Magazines, Inc.) in 1991.  Created by writer Nita Eden and artist Ding Abubot, Tara was a young woman who transforms into the arachnid-powered superheroine Lady Spider.