Pirata (Pugad Baboy graphic novel)
Encyclopedia
Pirata is a full-color graphic novel
written and illustrated by Filipino
cartoonist
Pol Medina, Jr.
and first published in 1995 by Pugad Baboy, Inc. The characters
and storyline of Pirata are derived from Medina's comic strip
Pugad Baboy
, which is published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
and is compiled annually in book form.
Unlike the book compilations of comic strips that had appeared beforehand in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pirata contains original, never-before published material. Medina began working on the graphic novel in February 1994, announcing its creation in PB5, the fifth Pugad Baboy compilation, as the first of a series of comics called "The Adventures of Polgas - Ang Asong Hindi" (The Dog Who Isn't) with the supposed publishing date of May 1994. However, it took slightly over a year to complete it, instead of the two months estimated. Priced a moderate Php
85.00 in 1995 (about US$
3.27 in 1995), it is 42 pages of Pugad Baboy adventure centered on Polgas' acquaintance and friendship with a Muslim
pirate named Khalid.
Pirata has a more serious atmosphere compared to Medina's previous work, both in terms of theme and materials used—all pages of the first edition were printed on glossy paper, a practice not very common for comics printed in the Philippines
at that time. It has been reprinted since.
In the tenth Pugad Baboy compilation, Pugad Baboy X, Medina admitted that during the time he was making Pirata, he was dealing with a lot of personal issues. Piratas serious tone, he related, was a reflection of his angst due to these crises.
attempts to finish the job. As rogue elements of the Navy
and the Red Marlin finally catch up with Khalid and take him, Doc Sebo, Tomas and Dagul captive, Polgas dons his Dobermaxx persona and rescues the group which had been taken on board a ship in North Harbor. Khalid in turn saves Dobermaxx's life as Luna was about to shoot him from behind. It is soon revealed that Luna himself murdered Hamid; the Red Marlin take him with them as Khalid allows them to escape. The rogue Navy elements are taken into custody by the authorities.
Khalid is later accepted as the Red Marlin's new leader. He plans to surrender the pirate group to authorities and will soon testify during the court martial of Major Velasquez, the rogue Navy group's commander.
in Pirata relates the origin of Polgas' human-like behavior, especially his ability to speak. It is revealed that his mother was a pure-bred Golden Retriever
named Cecilia owned by a rich customs
inspector named Lupito C. Nakpil, otherwise known as "King Louie". This man was so well-off that Cecilia had a diamond
-studded collar and three golden earrings. Cecilia had a mongrel
for a mate and when she gave birth to six puppies
(four males and two females) all of whom resembled their sire, Nakpil was furious. Polgas' father soon disappeared and that evening, Nakpil's men served asocena
as pulutan. Polgas and his siblings were separated from their mother and Nakpil left home for his resthouse in Tagaytay, taking Cecilia with him. Her forced removal from the presence of her offspring caused one of her golden earrings to fall off, of which Polgas retrieved.
. Lying down in the middle of a road, he waited for a vehicle to run him over. One of the vehicles stopped and the driver, Dagul, took Polgas home with him. He was cleaned up and fed, but would not eat. After a week of no food intake, Dagul took him to a veterinarian
, who injected Polgas with a sedative and put him under intravenous therapy
. The vet also discovered the golden earring in Polgas' mouth. Dagul had Polgas' left earlobe pierced and had him wear the earring. Polgas grew to trust his master, Dagul, who named him "Polgas"; from Dagul's grandfather's name "Apolonio" and "pulgas", the Spanish
-derived Filipino
word for "flea
".
and was fond of cooking exotic dishes. One of Polgas' favorites was a bibingka
topped with chicken skin cracklings, feta cheese, century egg
and balut
chicks. This concoction had a teratogenic
effect upon him, triggered by the radiation
coming off his master's television set. The physical changes in Polgas included the ability to talk and imitate his master's behavior, causing him over time to evolve into a more human-like being. Tomas, Dagul's neighbor, soon noticed Polgas' special abilities and with funding from an unknown philanthropist
, the "special intelligence unit" known as the Organized Canine Bureau was established with Polgas, initially codenamed "Wisedog" as its first operative. His first mission was to go undercover
and take down the "Dognap King" Atong Damuho as related in the story arc Wisedog
.
after the 1986 EDSA Revolution
when the new administration began investigating his unexplained wealth. Polgas assumed that Nakpil had taken his mother with him. It soon became obvious that Nakpil had abandoned Cecilia in Tagaytay; as Polgas passed by a market, he saw several drug addicts beating an old, dirty dog. After dispatching the addicts, Polgas saw two gold earrings on the dog's right ear. It was indeed Cecilia; his mother recognized him and licked his nose one last time before she died.
As the Red Marlin Group takes Khalid and the others captive, Polgas recognizes Luna for who he really is—Lupito Nakpil. He later exacts some measure of revenge as he repeatedly shoots Luna pointblank in the face with his garapata gun. Luna was taken by the Red Marlin when it was revealed that he murdered Hamid. It is assumed that he was given a pirate's execution at sea by the group.
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
written and illustrated by Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Pol Medina, Jr.
Pol Medina, Jr.
Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. is a Filipino cartoonist best known for creating Pugad Baboy, a black-and-white comic strip first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on May 18, 1988.-Biography:...
and first published in 1995 by Pugad Baboy, Inc. The characters
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and storyline of Pirata are derived from Medina's comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
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 ....
, which is 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...
and is compiled annually in book form.
Unlike the book compilations of comic strips that had appeared beforehand in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pirata contains original, never-before published material. Medina began working on the graphic novel in February 1994, announcing its creation in PB5, the fifth Pugad Baboy compilation, as the first of a series of comics called "The Adventures of Polgas - Ang Asong Hindi" (The Dog Who Isn't) with the supposed publishing date of May 1994. However, it took slightly over a year to complete it, instead of the two months estimated. Priced a moderate Php
Philippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
85.00 in 1995 (about US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
3.27 in 1995), it is 42 pages of Pugad Baboy adventure centered on Polgas' acquaintance and friendship with a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
pirate named Khalid.
Pirata has a more serious atmosphere compared to Medina's previous work, both in terms of theme and materials used—all pages of the first edition were printed on glossy paper, a practice not very common for comics printed in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
at that time. It has been reprinted since.
In the tenth Pugad Baboy compilation, Pugad Baboy X, Medina admitted that during the time he was making Pirata, he was dealing with a lot of personal issues. Piratas serious tone, he related, was a reflection of his angst due to these crises.
Synopsis
Khalid, a repentant pirate, is rescued by the Pugad Baboy residents after he is nearly killed by his erstwhile brothers-in-arms in the Red Marlin Group under the command of Luna, who are under the impression that he is responsible to the death of their leader Hamid Mustafa. Polgas saves his life several times as a Red Marlin hit squadAssassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempts to finish the job. As rogue elements of the Navy
Philippine Navy
The Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
and the Red Marlin finally catch up with Khalid and take him, Doc Sebo, Tomas and Dagul captive, Polgas dons his Dobermaxx persona and rescues the group which had been taken on board a ship in North Harbor. Khalid in turn saves Dobermaxx's life as Luna was about to shoot him from behind. It is soon revealed that Luna himself murdered Hamid; the Red Marlin take him with them as Khalid allows them to escape. The rogue Navy elements are taken into custody by the authorities.
Khalid is later accepted as the Red Marlin's new leader. He plans to surrender the pirate group to authorities and will soon testify during the court martial of Major Velasquez, the rogue Navy group's commander.
Subplot on Polgas' origin
A relevant subplotSubplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
in Pirata relates the origin of Polgas' human-like behavior, especially his ability to speak. It is revealed that his mother was a pure-bred Golden Retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
named Cecilia owned by a rich customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
inspector named Lupito C. Nakpil, otherwise known as "King Louie". This man was so well-off that Cecilia had a diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
-studded collar and three golden earrings. Cecilia had a mongrel
Mongrel
Mongrel refers to mixed ancestry:* In botany, a mongrel may refer to the offspring of varieties of a species which was in contrast to a hybrid* Among pets, one whose parentage is of unknown or mixed breeds as opposed to purebred...
for a mate and when she gave birth to six puppies
Puppy
A puppy is a juvenile dog. Some puppies may weigh , while larger ones can weigh up to . All healthy puppies grow quickly after birth. A puppy's coat color may change as the puppy grows older, as is commonly seen in breeds such as the Yorkshire Terrier...
(four males and two females) all of whom resembled their sire, Nakpil was furious. Polgas' father soon disappeared and that evening, Nakpil's men served asocena
Asocena
Asocena is a dish primarily consisting of dog meat originating from the Philippines. The dish's name is a compound word, from aso, the Filipino word for "dog" and Spanish word cena, which means "dinner" or "an evening meal", the literal translation being "dog-meal" or "a meal of dog meat"...
as pulutan. Polgas and his siblings were separated from their mother and Nakpil left home for his resthouse in Tagaytay, taking Cecilia with him. Her forced removal from the presence of her offspring caused one of her golden earrings to fall off, of which Polgas retrieved.
Dagul and Polgas meet
The puppies soon went their separate ways and Polgas grew so desperate that he decided to commit suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. Lying down in the middle of a road, he waited for a vehicle to run him over. One of the vehicles stopped and the driver, Dagul, took Polgas home with him. He was cleaned up and fed, but would not eat. After a week of no food intake, Dagul took him to a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
, who injected Polgas with a sedative and put him under intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the infusion of liquid substances directly into a vein. The word intravenous simply means "within a vein". Therapies administered intravenously are often called specialty pharmaceuticals...
. The vet also discovered the golden earring in Polgas' mouth. Dagul had Polgas' left earlobe pierced and had him wear the earring. Polgas grew to trust his master, Dagul, who named him "Polgas"; from Dagul's grandfather's name "Apolonio" and "pulgas", the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-derived Filipino
Filipino language
This move has drawn much criticism from other regional groups.In 1987, a new constitution introduced many provisions for the language.Article XIV, Section 6, omits any mention of Tagalog as the basis for Filipino, and states that:...
word for "flea
Flea
Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
".
Origin of Polgas' speech abilities
Dagul worked as a chefChef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
and was fond of cooking exotic dishes. One of Polgas' favorites was a bibingka
Bibingka
Bibingka is a type of rice cake from the Philippines. It is traditionally eaten during Christmas season.-Preparation:Bibingka is made with rice flour and coconut milk or water. Other ingredients can vary greatly, but the most common secondary ingredients are eggs and milk. The traditional...
topped with chicken skin cracklings, feta cheese, century egg
Century egg
Century egg or pidan , also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, thousand-year-old egg, and millennium egg, is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice hulls for several weeks to several...
and balut
Balut
A balut is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled alive and eaten in the shell.Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines...
chicks. This concoction had a teratogenic
Teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. It is often thought of as the study of human birth defects, but it is much broader than that, taking in other non-birth developmental stages, including puberty; and other non-human life forms, including plants.- Etymology :The...
effect upon him, triggered by the radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
coming off his master's television set. The physical changes in Polgas included the ability to talk and imitate his master's behavior, causing him over time to evolve into a more human-like being. Tomas, Dagul's neighbor, soon noticed Polgas' special abilities and with funding from an unknown philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, the "special intelligence unit" known as the Organized Canine Bureau was established with Polgas, initially codenamed "Wisedog" as its first operative. His first mission was to go undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
and take down the "Dognap King" Atong Damuho as related in the story arc Wisedog
Wisedog
Wisedog 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 17 strips long...
.
Nakpil gets his comeuppance
Polgas has not forgotten "King Louie" however; in his spare time he would do research on Lupito Nakpil's whereabouts. He went looking for Nakpil at his Tagaytay resthouse, but did not find him there. He had reportedly gone into hiding in ZamboangaZamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
after the 1986 EDSA Revolution
1986 EDSA Revolution
The People Power Revolution was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1983-86. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud...
when the new administration began investigating his unexplained wealth. Polgas assumed that Nakpil had taken his mother with him. It soon became obvious that Nakpil had abandoned Cecilia in Tagaytay; as Polgas passed by a market, he saw several drug addicts beating an old, dirty dog. After dispatching the addicts, Polgas saw two gold earrings on the dog's right ear. It was indeed Cecilia; his mother recognized him and licked his nose one last time before she died.
As the Red Marlin Group takes Khalid and the others captive, Polgas recognizes Luna for who he really is—Lupito Nakpil. He later exacts some measure of revenge as he repeatedly shoots Luna pointblank in the face with his garapata gun. Luna was taken by the Red Marlin when it was revealed that he murdered Hamid. It is assumed that he was given a pirate's execution at sea by the group.
Miscellaneous notes
- Polgas' mother Cecilia's name is an homage to Pol Medina, Jr.Pol Medina, Jr.Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. is a Filipino cartoonist best known for creating Pugad Baboy, a black-and-white comic strip first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on May 18, 1988.-Biography:...
's own mother Cecilia, further evidence that the cartoonist treats Polgas as an alter egoAlter egoAn alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
. - A speech balloonSpeech balloonSpeech balloons are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comic strips and cartoons to allow words to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic...
meant for Khalid on the tenth frame of page 39 in the first edition of Pirata has no words in it; it may be a typographical errorTypographical errorA typographical error is a mistake made in, originally, the manual type-setting of printed material, or more recently, the typing process. The term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but usually excludes errors of ignorance, such as spelling errors...
. - The Red Marlin Group and Khalid would appear again as Dobermaxx's allies in the story arc ParaisoParaiso (Pugad Baboy story arc)Paraiso 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 54 strips long...
, where they are described as a "special action group" of the Philippine NavyPhilippine NavyThe Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
. - RaphaelRaphael (TMNT)Raphael , a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas over their eyes, but unlike his brothers in other versions, he is the only one who keeps a red bandana...
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
makes a cameo appearanceCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in Pirata. He is hidden in a sewer pipe, with only a portion of his face visible. He is, however, identifiable due to his green skin and red bandana. - Polgas and Dagul both refer to the Red Marlin Group's hit squad as the "Jackson 5The Jackson 5The Jackson 5 , later known as The Jacksons, were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana...
", a reference to the pop quintet. - Medina misspelled the word "yachtYachtA yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
" in the graphic novel twice as "yatch" (sic). - Hamid was stabbed from the back on the right side of his body. Khalid could not have committed the murder since he was left-handedLeft-handedLeft-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...
. - Khalid claims Major Velazquez is a commander in the Philippine Navy. However, Majors are ArmyArmyAn army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
ranks, and their Navy counterparts are Lieutenant CommanderLieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
s. - In the first edition of Pirata, a two-page readers' corner can be found between pages 15 and 16 wherein Medina answered readers' comments about Pugad Baboy. It was included because the graphic novel was supposed to be the first of a quarterly comic series. Later editions of Pirata omitted this.
- The graphic novel features the first and only appearance of Dobermaxx's other car, the white Bullfox. Dobermaxx uses the car, still with glitches which Joboy was trying to fix, to drive to the North Harbor to save Khalid, Dagul, et al. from Luna and the Red Marlin hit squad. In fact, its glitches get Dobermaxx riling as the car slowly becomes unreliable. By the time he leaves the Bullfox, it is already in a state of disarray. The Dobermaxx of 20782078 (Pugad Baboy story arc)2078 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 45 strips long...
uses a future version of the car, known as the Bullfox II. The Bullfox's side profile closely resembles the Audi Avus QuattroAudi Avus QuattroThe Audi Avus quattro was a "supercar-styled" concept car from the German car manufacturer Audi. It was first introduced at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. The Avus quattro had an aluminum body, which made it a lightweight and safe automobile...
.