The Mythology Class

[DISCLAIMER] I do not fashion myself an expert in comic books or of Philippine mythology. On the off chance that a link to this review happens to come into Arnold Arre’s or any of his fans’ line of vision, I have this to say: I mean no harm nor disrespect. What follows is just an account of my personal reactions to the work in question, and should not be taken personally.

Also, considering the readership of this blog, you only risk losing at most 3 potential readers. That’s a lot less damage than your distributors have caused with their initiative to display your graphic novel in the Children’s Section of most local bookstores instead of under the Graphic Novels Section where it belongs. Seriously guys, there’s no way that a casual reader would happen upon your book unless they were actually searching for it.
[/DISCLAIMER]

While I enjoyed Filipino artist/writer Arnold Arre’s After Eden, I didn’t enjoy it enough to be excited about his latest work The Mythology Class when it was first came out.

So when I found out that the special collected edition was already out, I asked a friend what he thought about it. A fairly accurate summary of his response would be a resounding “MEH!” He added that the only reason he bought it was because he was friends with Arnold. Still, the cover art was intriguing, and there’s something to be said about supporting the local industry. So despite my initial misgivings, I went ahead and bought it anyway.

So how did I find it? Well, My friend’s review painted a fairly accurate picture of what the beginning was like, but there are good points about the book that become apparent as you continue reading.

The start was a mess. The characters were introduced in a hurried fashion, and the fact that most of them weren’t distinguishable from the rest of the herd made it hard for me to really pay attention to who they are and what their motivations were.

Character-wise though, things get better as you go along. You get to know the “class” much better and some of the characters start to stand on their own. However, with a cast this size (almost 20 main characters), it was only inevitable for some of the characters to be neglected. Character development was only relegated to the lead characters while the rest eventually become space fillers whose respective stories were given a tacked-on conclusion by the end. I think that the story would have been more effective had Arnold been a bit more ruthless in culling the herd.

It is in this regard that I thought Arre’s After Eden to be a better planned story. There were only about 6 characters, but they all had something to do. They had their own identities, motivation, and agendas; and they easily stick with you after you finish reading.

Another thing that I found wanting with TMC was the handling of the dialogue. Don’t get me wrong. For the most part, I thought it was smart, witty and informative. Still in some parts, the dialogue was just too self aware. It’s as if the characters knew that the audience was watching and were trying their darndest to look cute. This kind of heavy handed storytelling is a big turn off for me. I believe that sarcasm and sardonicism should only be used sparingly and can only be pulled off when employed by a few characters. Which is one of the reasons why I was never a fan of Jessica Zafra (Ooooh, I may need to write another disclaimer for that one).

However by no stretch was it a total waste of money. Because it’s Arnold Arre’s work, the visuals were awesome, and the plot engaging. I don’t know how extensive his research was on Philippine Mythology, or how much of it was made up, but the book was successful in making me want to learn more about the folk tales of our ancestors. Arnold was able to repackage our folklore and present it in a refreshing way that is very accessible.

Also—I may be contradicting myself here—but Mr. Arre was succesful in making me care about the main characters towards the end; albeit as a collective instead of individuals. They were able to get under my skin and make me feel for their plights and their victories. Rarely do I connect with fictional characters on an emotional level these days. At most, I could only sympathize, but not empathize. The fact that these are Filipino characters may have something to do with how I reacted to them, but I choose not to deduct points on those grounds. Lastly, I had reading it and I’ll probably read it again. When you think about it, regardless of how flawed a work may be, as long as people have fun with it, then it may not be a failure afterall.

So what’s the bottom line? For all its flaws, The Mythology Class accomplishes what it has set out to do: it entertains.

I give it a rating of three Batmen running with a bomb: