James Bab
Encyclopedia
James Bab is an adventure story arc
of the Philippine comic strip series Pugad Baboy
, created by Pol Medina Jr. This particular story arc lasts 38 strips long and was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
from June to July 1997. In 1998, the story arc was reprinted in the tenth compilation of the comic strip series, named Pugad Baboy X. The title itself is an obvious play on James Bond
, with resident hippie
Bab as the main character.
's character in the movie True Lies
as an example. Along the way, he points out some situations that secret agents face:
Soon enough, Polgas comes in and tells him that someone is looking to hire him as a secret agent. He changes to Dobermaxx on the spot. Polgas then explains that the first thing a secret agent wannabe does is to create a name that is so appealing even if the agent himself performs dismally on the job. Bab goes off-panel and comes back wearing a business suit and his hair combed. He then introduces himself as "Bab. James Bab," with the James Bond theme
as background music. Bab reveals his secret agent gear, such as a blowgun
improvised from a ball-point pen that shoots monggo
seeds, and a blowtorch to help him get out of handcuffs.
Bab's secret agent training begins with Polgas teaching him the basics of tradecraft
and hand-to-hand combat. However, Polgas lands in the hospital for several days after Bab broke wind on his face during a close-quarter combat
session. In the meantime, martial arts
grandmaster Ernesto Presas
will be Bab's trainer. Bab is skeptical of his abilities, but finds things out the hard way when he is confined alongside Polgas after a session with Presas.
Three weeks later, Bab has completed his training and Polgas assigns him his first mission: to stake out
a certain coconut vendor. He begins to complain, but takes the mission dossier anyway after Polgas offered him another training session with Presas regarding how to block a kris
sword.
The first day of the mission begins with Bab indirectly looking at the coconut vendor via a reflection in a heavily tinted window. However, an Ilocano-speaking security guard
accosts him and they begin an informal conversation about the rigours of the job. It is revealed that the window Bab looked at was that of a bank
. Unknown to both of them, a robbery was already in progress. Disappointed with the outcome of the initial surveillance, Bab goes home, changes clothes, and turns on the television just as a news program comes on air. He does not pay attention, as the show reports a robbery at the same bank where he chatted with the security guard. Worse, the guard himself has been arrested as a suspected accomplice.
Bab then embarks on the second day of the stake out. The danger of discovery forces him to watch on the vendor from inside a restaurant, which is located across the street from the bank. He orders a drink and goes under the table to get a bag of cashew
nuts to keep him busy. However, just as he is getting the food, two people suddenly occupy his table. One of them, Brawlio, boasts about how easy it was to rob the bank with the help of the second man, branch manager Jimmy Tontolino. Bab looks on as Brawlio gives Tontolino a black bag containing his PHP 2.5-million share of the PHP 8-million loot under the table. That night, an incensed Tontolino calls Brawlio about the contents of the bag given to him. It is revealed that Bab switched the bags during the covert exchange, allowing him to bring home the money and for Tontolino to get his gear instead.
Elated at having acquired such a massive pile of money, Bab boasts that he could buy a BMW
with all the cash - and changes it to VW
when Polgas suddenly appears to debrief
him.
After he is told everything that happened in the past two days (and catches Bab trying to pocket some of the money), Polgas hatches a plan to attract the robbers' attention. Bab will come to the bank and pretend to be a boisterous depositor. He indeed attracts a lot of attention and soon enough, Tontolino comes over and asks him to leave. Bab drops hints about the money and later ushered into the manager's office. When Tontolino tries to explain that the money was "his," Bab suddenly fumes, saying in Tagalog
, "So Mr Jimmy Tontolino, you really do have a lot of cash! Did you rob a bank?" Bab later walks out lamenting about the manager's poor service. Tontolino then alerts Brawlio about Bab and tails him. Polgas shadows
both of them aboard the Thunderdog. Bab arrives at a safe house
with Tomas already inside. Tontolino then gives Brawlio the location and recommended that he bring his entire posse along, as he sees a lot of weapons stacked in the dining room.
The ten-man gang then arrives. Brawlio recommends that they storm the house immediately but an associate refuses, claiming that it could be a trap. Brawlio, citing the dumb goon stereotype
in Philippine movies, still insists on the assault. The aide's suspicions are then confirmed when the coconut
vendor, known as Estong, comes forward and says he recognised Bab from the stakeout. The group decides to split up. Now that the cat was out of the bag, Polgas springs Bab and Tomas into action.
Polgas orders the Thunderdog on "herd mode" to cover the south side of the house while Tomas and Bab are respectively given the north and east sectors to find and capture the robbers. He will handle the western area. The Thunderdog's AI takes over and blocks a group of robbers attempting to escape. It forces them to run but they cannot shoot back at it because the cost of repairing a Porsche
is beyond their means. Polgas learns that Bab got the robbers in his zone because he used a stack of pornographic playing cards to get their attention. Tomas calls in and reports that he had trapped the three robbers in his sector by pointing his Minigun
at them while their backs are against a wall. Polgas then bumps into Brawlio and Tontolino after he takes out two accomplices using his arnis sticks. Brawlio promptly locks Polgas in a bear hug, claiming that he is the Anaconda's
relative, but let's go after Polgas says he is related to Mike Tyson
. The confusion allows him to get his Garapata Gun and shoot the two. After securing them, Polgas links up with Tomas to get his captives, who are shaken with fear after Tomas destroys (off-panel) much of the wall with a massive barrage of fire. Only the section immediately behind them is left standing, and the ground in front of them is bordered by dozens of bullet holes. Tomas feigns innocence despite the fact that the Vulcan gun's barrels are still smoking.
Polgas and Tomas go and meet Bab, who just organised an auction of his pornographic cards with Estong as the auction master and a bunch of dirty old men as the bidders.
Polgas then deduces that a recent series of robberies against the bank's customers were made possible because Estong used his business as a spotter for the suspects. The group opts to remain silent about where the rest of the money is stashed away. Since they would not talk, Polgas tries one last tack...
He orders that the suspects be herded aboard the van they used as a getaway vehicle, so they can ride to a certain overpass in Quezon City
. The group finally gives in and says that the money was in Brawlio's house after Polgas says the following words (in Tagalog): "Even if they are in handcuffs, we can make it appear that there was a shoot-out." Tomas is also more than enthusiastic to carry out the execution, whistling as he wipes his Minigun.
The guard is eventually cleared of the charges now that the true suspects are behind bars. He then points out to Bab and company that Jimmy Tontolino was already a no-gooder and "has no hemorrhoids (read: perfect asshole)" He treats the gang to a drinking session just outside the cell where Brawlio and company are detained. Bab laments that there was one item that he didn't use during his time as James Bab - his blowgun/ballpen, which he uses to snipe the prisoners with mongo shots. His drinking buddies begin to take turns shooting.
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
of the Philippine comic strip series Pugad Baboy
Pugad Baboy
Pugad Baboy is a comic strip created by Filipino cartoonist Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. The strip is about a Manila community of mostly obese people - "fat as pigs", so to speak ....
, created by Pol Medina Jr. This particular story arc lasts 38 strips long and was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The Philippine Daily Inquirer, popularly known as the Inquirer, is the most widely read broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines, with a daily circulation of 260,000 copies. It is one of the Philippines' newspapers of record...
from June to July 1997. In 1998, the story arc was reprinted in the tenth compilation of the comic strip series, named Pugad Baboy X. The title itself is an obvious play on James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, with resident hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
Bab as the main character.
Synopsis
The arc starts with Bab commenting on the adventure and intrigue of being a secret agent, using Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's character in the movie True Lies
True Lies
True Lies is a 1994 American action-comedy film directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Tia Carrere, Charlton Heston, and Art Malik. Eliza Dushku also appears in the film in one of her first major film roles...
as an example. Along the way, he points out some situations that secret agents face:
- Lying to one's own family. Tomas brings a drunk Bab home to his mother after a long binge. Bab claims that they went to watch Volcano starring Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
. - Assuming disguises. Bab is seen wearing a cowboy costume while inquiring for pornographic titles at a video shop.
- Creating alibis on the fly. A backpack-carrying Bab is about to ride a provincial bus with a sword-wielding Mao stopping him from boarding. He reasons that he was going to the bank to withdraw money to pay his debt.
Soon enough, Polgas comes in and tells him that someone is looking to hire him as a secret agent. He changes to Dobermaxx on the spot. Polgas then explains that the first thing a secret agent wannabe does is to create a name that is so appealing even if the agent himself performs dismally on the job. Bab goes off-panel and comes back wearing a business suit and his hair combed. He then introduces himself as "Bab. James Bab," with the James Bond theme
James Bond Theme
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in almost every James Bond film....
as background music. Bab reveals his secret agent gear, such as a blowgun
Blowgun
"Blowpipe" and "blow tube" redirect here. For other uses of the terms, see GlassblowingA blowgun is a simple weapon consisting of a small tube for firing light projectiles, or darts....
improvised from a ball-point pen that shoots monggo
Mung bean
The mung bean is the seed of Vigna radiata. It is native to the Indian subcontinent.-Description:They are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color...
seeds, and a blowtorch to help him get out of handcuffs.
Bab's secret agent training begins with Polgas teaching him the basics of tradecraft
Tradecraft
Tradecraft is a general term that denotes a skill acquired through experience in a trade.The term is also used within the intelligence community as a collective word for the techniques used in modern espionage...
and hand-to-hand combat. However, Polgas lands in the hospital for several days after Bab broke wind on his face during a close-quarter combat
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
session. In the meantime, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
grandmaster Ernesto Presas
Ernesto Presas
Ernesto Presas was the founder of Filipino martial arts system Kombatan.Kombatan, which includes training with the stick and with bladed weapons in addition to empty-hand work, was developed from the Modern Arnis system. Ernesto Presas assisted his older brother Remy Presas in developing Modern...
will be Bab's trainer. Bab is skeptical of his abilities, but finds things out the hard way when he is confined alongside Polgas after a session with Presas.
Three weeks later, Bab has completed his training and Polgas assigns him his first mission: to stake out
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
a certain coconut vendor. He begins to complain, but takes the mission dossier anyway after Polgas offered him another training session with Presas regarding how to block a kris
Kris
The kris or keris is an asymmetrical dagger or sword nowadays most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, but also indigenous to Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Brunei. It is known as kalis in the southern Philippines. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade , but many have...
sword.
The first day of the mission begins with Bab indirectly looking at the coconut vendor via a reflection in a heavily tinted window. However, an Ilocano-speaking security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
accosts him and they begin an informal conversation about the rigours of the job. It is revealed that the window Bab looked at was that of a bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
. Unknown to both of them, a robbery was already in progress. Disappointed with the outcome of the initial surveillance, Bab goes home, changes clothes, and turns on the television just as a news program comes on air. He does not pay attention, as the show reports a robbery at the same bank where he chatted with the security guard. Worse, the guard himself has been arrested as a suspected accomplice.
Bab then embarks on the second day of the stake out. The danger of discovery forces him to watch on the vendor from inside a restaurant, which is located across the street from the bank. He orders a drink and goes under the table to get a bag of cashew
Cashew
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
nuts to keep him busy. However, just as he is getting the food, two people suddenly occupy his table. One of them, Brawlio, boasts about how easy it was to rob the bank with the help of the second man, branch manager Jimmy Tontolino. Bab looks on as Brawlio gives Tontolino a black bag containing his PHP 2.5-million share of the PHP 8-million loot under the table. That night, an incensed Tontolino calls Brawlio about the contents of the bag given to him. It is revealed that Bab switched the bags during the covert exchange, allowing him to bring home the money and for Tontolino to get his gear instead.
Elated at having acquired such a massive pile of money, Bab boasts that he could buy a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
with all the cash - and changes it to VW
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
when Polgas suddenly appears to debrief
Debriefing
-Military debriefing:Debriefings originated in the military. This type of debriefing is used to receive information from a pilot or soldier after a mission, and to instruct the individual as to what information can be released to the public and what information is restricted...
him.
After he is told everything that happened in the past two days (and catches Bab trying to pocket some of the money), Polgas hatches a plan to attract the robbers' attention. Bab will come to the bank and pretend to be a boisterous depositor. He indeed attracts a lot of attention and soon enough, Tontolino comes over and asks him to leave. Bab drops hints about the money and later ushered into the manager's office. When Tontolino tries to explain that the money was "his," Bab suddenly fumes, saying in Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, "So Mr Jimmy Tontolino, you really do have a lot of cash! Did you rob a bank?" Bab later walks out lamenting about the manager's poor service. Tontolino then alerts Brawlio about Bab and tails him. Polgas shadows
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
both of them aboard the Thunderdog. Bab arrives at a safe house
Safe house
In the jargon of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, a safe house is a secure location, suitable for hiding witnesses, agents or other persons perceived as being in danger...
with Tomas already inside. Tontolino then gives Brawlio the location and recommended that he bring his entire posse along, as he sees a lot of weapons stacked in the dining room.
The ten-man gang then arrives. Brawlio recommends that they storm the house immediately but an associate refuses, claiming that it could be a trap. Brawlio, citing the dumb goon stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
in Philippine movies, still insists on the assault. The aide's suspicions are then confirmed when the coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
vendor, known as Estong, comes forward and says he recognised Bab from the stakeout. The group decides to split up. Now that the cat was out of the bag, Polgas springs Bab and Tomas into action.
Polgas orders the Thunderdog on "herd mode" to cover the south side of the house while Tomas and Bab are respectively given the north and east sectors to find and capture the robbers. He will handle the western area. The Thunderdog's AI takes over and blocks a group of robbers attempting to escape. It forces them to run but they cannot shoot back at it because the cost of repairing a Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
is beyond their means. Polgas learns that Bab got the robbers in his zone because he used a stack of pornographic playing cards to get their attention. Tomas calls in and reports that he had trapped the three robbers in his sector by pointing his Minigun
Minigun
The Minigun is a 7.62 mm, multi-barrel heavy machine gun with a high rate of fire , employing Gatling-style rotating barrels with an external power source...
at them while their backs are against a wall. Polgas then bumps into Brawlio and Tontolino after he takes out two accomplices using his arnis sticks. Brawlio promptly locks Polgas in a bear hug, claiming that he is the Anaconda's
Anaconda (film)
Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is...
relative, but let's go after Polgas says he is related to Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
. The confusion allows him to get his Garapata Gun and shoot the two. After securing them, Polgas links up with Tomas to get his captives, who are shaken with fear after Tomas destroys (off-panel) much of the wall with a massive barrage of fire. Only the section immediately behind them is left standing, and the ground in front of them is bordered by dozens of bullet holes. Tomas feigns innocence despite the fact that the Vulcan gun's barrels are still smoking.
Polgas and Tomas go and meet Bab, who just organised an auction of his pornographic cards with Estong as the auction master and a bunch of dirty old men as the bidders.
Polgas then deduces that a recent series of robberies against the bank's customers were made possible because Estong used his business as a spotter for the suspects. The group opts to remain silent about where the rest of the money is stashed away. Since they would not talk, Polgas tries one last tack...
He orders that the suspects be herded aboard the van they used as a getaway vehicle, so they can ride to a certain overpass in Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
. The group finally gives in and says that the money was in Brawlio's house after Polgas says the following words (in Tagalog): "Even if they are in handcuffs, we can make it appear that there was a shoot-out." Tomas is also more than enthusiastic to carry out the execution, whistling as he wipes his Minigun.
The guard is eventually cleared of the charges now that the true suspects are behind bars. He then points out to Bab and company that Jimmy Tontolino was already a no-gooder and "has no hemorrhoids (read: perfect asshole)" He treats the gang to a drinking session just outside the cell where Brawlio and company are detained. Bab laments that there was one item that he didn't use during his time as James Bab - his blowgun/ballpen, which he uses to snipe the prisoners with mongo shots. His drinking buddies begin to take turns shooting.
Pop culture references
- Due to his drunken stupor, Bab forgets that Brosnan did not star in Volcano, but in Dante's PeakDante's PeakDante's Peak is a 1997 disaster film directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Leslie Bohem, and starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton and Charles Hallahan. The film portrays the effect of a volcano erupting near a small town in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The film is loosely...
. The film, together with Volcano and Anaconda, were already released in theatres in June 1997. - Polgas' threat to have the bank robbers killed is eerily reminiscent of the alleged circumstances behind the Kuratong BalelengKuratong balelengKuratong Baleleng is an organized crime syndicate in the Philippines that once was an anti-communist vigilante group. They received nationwide attention due to their alleged end in a shootout with the Police on May 1995 in Quezon City.-History:...
rub-out case in 1995. Philippine Senator Panfilo LacsonPanfilo LacsonPanfilo "Ping" Morena Lacson, Sr. is a Filipino politician. He was Director-General of the Philippine National Police from 1999 to 2001 and has been a member of the Philippine Senate since 2001.-Early life and education:...
was investigated over the case that year as chief of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission's Task Force Habagat. - The strip where Polgas apparently caught Bab pocketing the money does not actually show Bab's hands on the cash. A closer inspection shows one pile gradually disappearing - all the while, Polgas has his back to Bab.
- Polgas' claim about being a relative of Mike Tyson is a reference to the Bite Fight, which already happened during the time that the story arc was published.
- Miniguns normally have six barrels. Tomas' version has seven.
- Brawlio's remarks about dumb goons are indeed a common occurrence in Philippine action movies. Medina explained it further in a series of strips published in Pugad Baboy 6, which tackled typical clichés that are usually present in Philippine-made movies.
- Ilocano-speaking characters would come back again in the 2000 story arc Private Investigator!Private Investigator!Private Investigator! is an adventure story arc of the Philippine comic strip series Pugad Baboy, created by Pol Medina Jr. and originally published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This particular story arc lasts 77 strips long and ran July to October, 2000, in the light of the then-recent...