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EventNot
e
Cosfest09:
Av eryhapp y
event?

!
!!!
!!!
!
Wonder
con08Excl
usi
ves

mascot
parade!
KCKor
ner(
Real
lyj
ustac
orne
r)
Iconfess
,Ine ve
rreal
lyl
ikeCos fes
t.Ev ers i
nceIjoinedthec l
ub,Iha vebeentoac oupleofCos fe
st;bot
ha saboot hownera nda
vi
sit
or.Asaboot howner,Igota nentirelistofgr
ievance
sa gai
nst
t Cosfes
t.Almost everyyearwithoutfai
l
, t
herewoul dbeissues
wit
hboot hrenta
lsatCosf
estthatwoul dpr oducesomuc hf ri
cti
onbe tweenart
is
tg roupsa ndtheor g
anizer
s.Thisye ar,
ithadbe en
t
het ot
all
ycumbe rs
omea ndla t
eme thodofc oll
ect
ingrentsviaathir
dpa rt
ytick
etingc ompa nythatcausedanuproa rwithi
nt heart
communi ty
;foll
owedshort
lybyi ncr
e diblyba dPRma nagementbyt heorgani
zerstha tl
eftabadt as
te.Asav i
si
torands ome one
whol i
vesatthenort
h,DowntownEa st i
sjust t
oofarfrom towna ndtooinconvenient t
og oto.Thes ounds ys
tem woul dbesol oud
t
ha t
Iha vetoshoutt
og e
t myselfheard. Inee dt
oc hangemydi recti
ona l
ltoooft
e nj us
ttoge t
out ofthewayoff l
ashingcame ra
l
ight
s .

Inal
l,it
wouldbet oonoi sy, t
ooloud,t
ooc rowded,toomuc haha s
sl
e .
Thec ostandtheamountofredtape,del
ay sanda nnoy a
nce
see
m hardlyworththee ff
or ttogobacktoCos f
est
. Howev e
r,yea
raft
eryear,Ifa
iltores
is
ttempta
tionandgoba cktoCos f es
t t
obe
par
tofthisfl
aweda ndr owdye v
entag
ain.Tha t
issome t
hingtobesai
da boutCosfest
.Eachvi
si
twa sanewe x
pe r
ience,rich,ful
fi
ll
-
i
nga ndhighl
yironicinma nywa ys
.Eachv i
si
tlea
vesbehindme moriesofbot
hi magesandsoundsthatwoul
dc ompe lmet ore-
membe rCosfes
t notforitsflawsbutf
oritsexperi
ence.At t
heendoftwoda ysofCosfes
thell
,af
terenduri
ngallt
hos etroublestosi
t
downa tt
hemyboot h,endur ethebadsounds yst
ema ndwa it
impati
entl
yforsal
esthatneve
rcome ,Iwouldeme rgefrom theda r
k,
for
ebodingtent
s at
is
fied,ha ppyandbli
ssf
ul.

Iti
ss ome thingi nfec
ti
ous,Isupposed,aboutthee nt
husias
mt hatt
hev ar
iouspa r
ti
cipantsexhi
bit
eddur ingCos fes
t.Arms t
rong'
s
YoungAl che mis tOmmph! I
ns t
it
uteandKr a
us e
r-sa
n'spelv
icthr
usti
ngre ndi
tionofCa rramelDansenwe rejustt
wooft hema ny,
ma nywonde rful hi
ghli
ght
soft hi
sye a
r'
sevent
. Lastyear
,theme l
odioustuneofNi coNi coMe dl
eyr esona t
edthroughoutthetentas
partofthef inalebe f
orethema s
sCa r
amel Dansenbya lmostever
ys i
ngl
ec osplay
erat t
hee ve
nt.Ofc our s
e,therearetheindi
v i
dual
cosplaye
r sthat prowl t
heevent a
ndf l
auntthe
ms elve
stothee age
rphotogr a
phe r
s.Wemi g
htsni
ggl
ea ndl augha tc
erta
inba dat-
t
e mptsbut f
ore v er
ypoorc osplay
,thereares
oma nyothersthata
rejustsoimpr es
siv
e ,
be aut
i
fulandins piri
ngthatal
lonec andois
gawka ndt he nwhi pout t
heca mera.Itwasheart
-warminginawa ytoseea l
lthoseeff
ort puti
nbyt hec ospla
y e
rstobet hatr
ole,t
o
actthatrole,topl aythatr
ole.

Let'
snotfor
getthea r
ti
stst
hatformthebul koftheboot hownersatCosfes
t.Ev
eryCosf
estthrowupne wwor kst
hatt
hefancom-
munitywouldsnapup. Itwasatimewhe nthear t
istcommuni t
yint
erac
t wi
theac
hotherthroughe xc
hang eofwar
esandmut ualdi
s-
t
ast
efortheCos fe
s t
organiz
er.Itwastheti
met os upportthest
arvi
ngart
ist
communitybypur chasi
ngthewor k
swhichtheyputso
muche f
fort
sint
odoi ngup. I
twa sa
lsothetimef orarti
st
stocomef ac
etofacewit
hthei
rtargetcust
ome rsandtofi
ndout whatt
hey
want.
Andt hisexchangeofwor k
sandi nf
luxofne wf undscont
inuetofurt
hers
purthearti
st
stoi mprovea ndt
ofurt
herinspi
re
morefanstojoi
nt heranksofthearti
sts
.

Fina l
lywhe nCos festwa sfinal
lyov erforthatye ar
, t
herewoul dbetheout pourofs uppor tf
orthee
vent
thr
oug
hthev
ari
ousbl
og
pos t
s,forum t hreadsa ndphot og r
aphs .
Sure,the r
ewoul da l
wa ysbegriev
ance s,a
reasfor
i
mpr oveme nts,compl aintsandt hreatsofboyc ott
.The nthec oll
ect
ivebulkoft heloc a
lfan
communi tywoul dcont inuet os upportCosfest f
oritisoneoft hepioneere v
e ntofitskindtha
t
pr ovidesana venuef ors uche ffecti
vefaninteract
ionsa monge achothe r
.Cos fes
tdidnot
succee dbec auset heor ganizersdi dag r
eatjob. They,inmyhone stopini
on, didav erybadjob.
It succeedsbe c
a usethel oc alf
a nbasesupporte dthemt hroughthickandt hi
n, t
hroug h
proble msa ndc risis
.It succeedsbe c
ausethes uppor t
ivefanbaseturnupi nbul k,
toi nt
eract
withe achot hera ndc rea t
es uchf una ndfondme mor iesofthee v
entthattheywoul d,once
again,comedownf ort hene xt one .

Thusa ft
ersit
ti
ngdownt orefl
ectonmyl ove-hat
eopinionofCos f
est
,Ifina
ll
ya rr
ivet
oa
conclusi
on.PerhapsIdon'tre
all
ydi s
li
keCos fes
taft
erall
.Ime re
lydis
li
k et
heor gani
zat
ionofit
.
The r
ea resoma nyare
asofimprov ement;soma nywaystheycancate
rt oot
he rst
reamswithi
n
t
hec ommuni ty.Icanl
istdownallthosegri
evancesIhada g
a i
nstt
hem butattheendoft heday,
Iwoul dsti
l
lgoforCosfest.
Fornothing,note v
enlousyorgani
zati
onands el
f-
de s
tr
ucti
vePR
ski
lls
, c
anda mpentheeffect
iv
edisplayofspiri
tandenthusi
asm ofourlocal
Singaporea
nf ans
.
Itcouldbebe t
terbuti
twouldsti
llbequiteav er
yhappye vent
.
Ori
ginaltle:
Kore
an:신암행어사
Ja
p/Chines
e :
新暗行御史
Engl
is
h: Bl
adeo ft
heP ha
ntomMa st
er
Genre:Shounen,
fanta
syadvent
ure
Publ
ishi
ngstat
us:Chuangyi
,Vol
umes1-
17+
1,
Comp l
etedin2007

S
umma
ry:

Bl
adeof t
heP ha
n tomMa s
tertakespl
aceinth efico nall
and
ofJ
ushin,
mo del
e da erfeudalKor
ea.InJus
h i
n ,
thereonce
l
i
veds e
cretgovernmentagentscal
le
dt he“ame nosa”
(
orangyōo ns
hiinthejapa
ne s
ev er
sion)
,wh otrave
ledthe
countr
ysi
deind i
sguis
e.Theywe r
ec ha
rgedb ythekingwit
h
findi
ngandp uni
sh i
ngcor
ruptg ov
ernme ntoffic i
al
s,andbri
ngi
ng
j
usc etothecountry'
scizens.

Att
hestartoft
heseri
es,Jus
h i
nh a
sbeend est
royed,
fra
cturedint
o
numerousfief
domsa ndking
d oms,manyo fwhic
ha r
eruledby
c
orruptandty
ranni
calwarl
ord s
.Bl
adeo ft
heP hant
omMa st
er
f
oll
owstheadventur
esofon eoftheremaini
ngame nosa,Mu ns
u,
asheconn uestowan dert
h ecount
rysi
dea nddeal
swiththechaosc
aus
edbyJ
ushi
n'
sfa
ll
.

I
mpr
ess
ions
:

WhenIfirstgotmyh andsonthi
sseri
esbacki
n2 001,
Iwasdeepl
ya wedbythedetai
ledar
t.Thechar
ac-
t
ers
’fea
turesar
efl eshedoutre
a l
i
sc al
lyandthearstisnots
loppyovert
heb a
ckgroundei
ther
,thewhole
s
eri
eswasa bs
olut
elystunni
nginter
mso fi
ntr
ic
a c
y.Aco nsc
enesbecomea l
i
vea ndthi
sworksver
ywe l
l
f
oraseri
esthati
sfull
of t
hem.T hepl
ot i
snotcompromis
edeit
her,des
pit
eitbei
ngseemingl
yu nr
ela
ted
f
orthefirs
ttwov ol
ume s.

Wea r
eintr
oducedtothean- her
op rot
agonis
tMu ns
ua ndhisr
eckles
sadventur
es,withtheplots
lowly
unf
oldi
ngtoreveal
tha
t benea
thMu ns
u’sseeming
lycar
efr
eelif
eo fdi
spos
ingevi
ldoersreckl
ess
ly,hi
spast
l
if
eintheKing
domo fJushi
nwa smo r
eth a
njustahaunn gme mory.Theonefl awwa sthatf
orthefi r
st
hal
foftheser
ies
,thearstsdecidedtoincor
porat
eelementsofKoreanf
olktal
esint
oth est
orycenter
ed
ar
oundMu nsuwh i
chdeci
dedlyhadn ot
hingtodowiththeoveral
lpl
ot.Si
mp l
yput,fil
lers.

Oneredeemingf
act
o rdespi
tethefil
lerswasthel
evelofgener
ousyetnon-
exce
ssi
vehumour
,appr
opr
iat
ely
pl
acedtocrea
temo mentsinwhichthereaderc
an’
t hel
pbut l
aughoutl
oud.
I
ntheen d,
thi
sseri
esli
vesu ptobei
ngas ei
nenma ngafori
tsser
vingofbl
oodand
dec
apit
atedli
mbssoavoidthisi
fyoudisl
ik
ethegoreandmo nste
rs.

Highl
yrecc
ome ndedi
fthemang
a,Cl
aymor
eisy
ourc
upoft
eaa
lthoug
hIda
res
ay
theartoft
hiss
eri
esisf
arbey
ondwhatCl
aymor
eoffer
s.
 KI
NGDOMC
OME T
hee
pico
fep
ics
The1980swast hebeginningofwhati snowc onsider
edt obet heModer nAgeofComi cs
,ort heDarkAgeofc omics,as Thec omi cisver ygood, per hapst hebes t,
arti
sti
call
y .Rosst rul
ybr i
ngsthec omi ctolife,wi t
ht hegouac hes tylethatmak es
darkerthemesandgr itt
yant i
-her
oeswer etakingmor epr ominenceovert radi
ti
onalideal
isticdepicti
onsoft hes uper hero hisher oeslessc omi c-i
shandmor e
archetype.Theperiodmark edtheintroductionofs uperheroeslikeMarvelComi c’
sCableandt hepublishingofc omi cslik
e realis
t i
c,andt heac tionisdepi c
tedl ikeso,allt
hewayunt ilthefinalbat tl
eandoneofi tsmor etragicout comes .F
urther -
FrankMi l
ler’
sTheDar kKnightReturns.Kingdom Comewaswr i
ttenbyMar kWai dbutisbes tknownf oritsartbyAl exRos s, mor e,asadepi cti
onofapos siblef utureoftheDCU, Rosswor kedondes ignsofoverat housands uper heroes,eac hwi th
whoi sfamousf orpai
ntingingouac hetoac hieveanal mos tphoto-r
eali
sticstyl
e.Thecomi cwaswr i
tt
enasar espons et o theirowndi sti
nctgar b.Itispos siblet hatonecouldr eadt henovelpayi ngahi gherat tentiont oartthant opl ot,asittrulyis
theModer nAge,andthus,couldbes eenasr espons etoTheModer nEra.Kingdom Comehadgai nedal otofac cl
ai m andis afeas tfortheeyes .
consideredtobeoneofDC’ sbestElsewor l
dt i
t l
es(Els
ewor ldsbeingcomi csaboutal
ternatever s
ionsoft heDCUni ver s
e), However ,asar espons etot heModer nAgei ntermsofpl ot,Kingdom Comef al
lsshortofi tsexpec tati
ons .Movi ngast he
winningt heEis
nerAwar dforbestli
mi tedser i
es ,
aswel lasAlexRosswi nning“Bestpaint
er”f orhisworkont hes eri
es . storyofKi ngdom Comei s,Ros s’sintentwast opor t
rays uper her oes,notablyclassi
cs uper heroes,asaki ntogodsofant iq-
uity.Myt hologiesar enotasc ompel li
ngasnovel s,
thati s,storiesofgodsdonotr el
atet ousasmuc hass t
oriesaboutpeopl e
Bef
or eIc ontinue,abitofDChi storyi
snec essar
y.In1985, t
woc omicswer epubli
shedbyDC, thefirstbei ngWat chmen, do. Allofthec astofWat chmenwer eashumansasus ,andevent hesuper humanDr .Manhat tanretainedahuman- likefra-
whichIhadr eviewedbef oreandhas ,t
houghuni ntentionall
y ,beenc onsider
edtobeoneoft hes t
artersoft heModer nAge gili
tyt oas mallext ent.Thepr obl emsoft hecharactersofKi ngdom Come, however,ar eaboutasr el evantast hebi ckeringof
duetoi tsattemptt oportrayanal mostreali
sti
cdepictionofs uper heroesandtheiri
mpac tonworldhi st
or y.Theotherwas theGr eekgods :theymak eint erestingreading,butarenotent ir
elyrelevant.Evenpr es enceofNor manMc Caydoesnot
Cri
sisonI nfini t
eEarths,arelat
ivelyimportantpieceint hehi s
t or
yoft heDCUni vers
e(henceabbrieviatedasDCU) ,but dispelt hefacthatt heDCUi sintrinsicall
ydifferentf r
om ourownr eali
ty.
al
soaf ai
rlyconvolutedcomi cthatmuc kedupt hings.Iwillreviewt hehistor
yof‘cri
sis
’intheDCUi nf uture,butitshoul
d
benot edt hatKingdom Comewaswr it
tenafterCrisi
sonI nfini teEarths,andbefor
eInfiniteCri
sis
,andt hus ,port
rayedthe Anotherpr oblem withthiscomi cthatIs houldnotei si
tsc ompl exit
y. Bei
ngwr i
ttenaf terCrisi
s
potentialfutureoftheDCUatt hatpoint. onInfini t
eEar ths,Ki
ngdom Comewass uppos edtorepr esentthef utureoftheDCUatt hat
part
icularpoi nt.Fur
thermore,sinceKi ngdom Comei snotc entredononepar ti
cularchar acter
,
TheJ usticeLeaguehasbeendi sbanded. Super manhasgr ownol dandr et i
redt ohi sfami l
yf arm. Bat man, i
nc ont ras t
,now butrathert heDCUasawhol e, t
hec omi cinvolvesthepr esenceofmor ethanonec haracter,
paralyzedandi ns eclusion, r ulesGotham Ci tywi t
ht heus eofr obot st osilenc eanyc rime. Simi larot herher oesar eal li
nre- andsugges tsvar i
ousplotli
nesandr ef erences,suchthingst hatcanonl ybet r
ulyappr ec i
ated
ti
rement ,
allbecaus ethepubl icnowf avour sanewwaveofs uper her oesl edbyMagog, whopr eferex c
es sivevi olenc eover byar eaderwhohasaf airl
ybr oadknowl edgeoft hevar i
ousc haractersoftheDCU. Yes,the
mor epeac efulmet hods .Thi sal lc
hangeswhenanac ci
dentinvol vingMagog’ sgr oupofant i- heroesr esultsinthedec ima- comicc anber eadwithoutthisknowl edge, butitshouldbenot edthatc omicwaswr i
tten
ti
onofKans as.Inres pons e, Supermanr egr oupshi sageingc omr adest or estar ttheJ usticeL eagueandt ostopt hedamage forthispar t
icularpurpose.Thus,peopl ewhodon’ tknowaboutt hi
ngsl i
kewhoAl anSc ott,
star
tedbyt heviolenc eoft hes enewant i-heroes .However ,
oppos iti
onc omesf rom Batmanandhi sOut sider s,
whoar econ- theOut si
der sorDeadmanar ewi l
lbel eftinthedar kformanypar t
soft hecomic .
vincedt hatthe‘new’ J
us t
ic eL eagueiss til
lananac hronism,andar enothel pingt hesit
uat i
on. Thisi ssomewhatt rue,asSu-
permanendsupi mpr i
soni ngmor eant i
-heroest hanc onvertingthem, placingt hem inaf acilit
yknownast heGul ag. From Kingdom Come,ass
uch,
isli
keaverypowerfulc
har
ismat
icser
mon.I
tsti
rsyou,
itins
pir
es
here,thepl otcontinuesunt i
lamas s
ive,epi c,showdownbet weenc lassics uper her oandmoder nageant i-
her oi nt hefinal you,but
,unles
syoubeli
eve,ors
uspendjudgement
,youwil
lnotbet
akeninbyit.
chapter,wi t
htheJ usticeL eaguefight ingt hef r
eedi nmat esoft heGul ag. Int hemi dstoft hisapoc alyptics torytelling,the
narrati
oni sprovidedbyNor manMc Cay ,anor malhumanpas torint heDCU, whoi slosinghi sf ait
h, andc omest obearwi t
-
nesst otheevent soft hismet ahumandr amat hrought heaideoft heSpec tre.

wr
it
te
nbyC
har
les
CLUB ARTI
STOFTHE
MONTH!
SorawoKakeruShouj o&
RistoranteParadi
so
artist:Ken
4k
oma

c
ont
ri
but
edb
yGa
bri
el