Immanuel Cris L Palasigue 2014-83783 BS Nursing Humanities I

Book Report

Kikomachine Komix #7: Sorrowful, Sorrowful Mysteries by Manix Abrera

The comic book, Kikomachine Komix #7: Sorrowful, Sorrowful Mysteries, by Manix

Abrera is a compilation of stories that are different in nature. One of the segments, Si Boy

Diamante, contains a fictional theme with a twist of dark humor. Another part named Ang Taong

Di Makabasag Pinggan contains a word for word rendition of the famous Filipino idiom, di

makabasag pinggan One of the segment that caught my interest is the one named Behind the

Scenes plays on the literal translation of the title which takes the reader to different perspectives

inside the comics.

The goal of Manix Abrera in this edition of his Kikomachine is to produce a relatable

version of his comics. He tapped into the present condition and current disposition of the people

from different sectors and incorporates them into his comics. A good example of that is the

segment wherein he depicted the problems of students in handling the accreditation of their

organization in their respective universities. Most of college students can relate to the processes

that Abrera mentioned in his comics. Another relatable example by Abrera is when he addressed

the horrors of the flood in the Philippines. He used extremes and over-exaggerations to depict the

situation.
 In his techniques, Abrera does not use familiarization in his comic strips. Instead, he

insisted on making simple characters so as to establish their role in the strips making it easier for

the readers to follow-through on his stories. He also showed flexibility and resourcefulness by

using different types of humor, bordering from corny jokes to dark humor. He also shows

exceptional wit with his play on words and using literal definitions of the Tagalog words and

idioms that are widely used. With his skills, Abrera successfully made his readers be immersed

to his stories.

Manix Abreras Kikomachine Komix became a huge hit due to its stories and the way it

was presented to the readers. Some say that Abreras work in his Kikomachine Komix is

phenomenal and may be considered to be a rock star in writing comics. His unique approaches

and witty punchline became his bread and butter and sold numerous copies of the comics. After

immersing myself in different tagalog comics, Manix Abrera is inarguably one of the gems in

Philippine literature