Drag queens and Pinoy gay superheroes
Award-winning filmmaker Real Florida is offering us a new Pinoy gay superhero in the debut comic book ‘Badingger-Z and the Accla Assassin’
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Award-winning filmmaker Real Florida is offering us a new Pinoy gay superhero in the debut comic book ‘Badingger-Z and the Accla Assassin’
Singer-actor Ice Seguerra has begun to be known as a director of drag shows and has just become a co-owner of a bar in Quezon City known as Rampa Drag Club.
Located at 40 Eugenio Lopez Jr. Drive near the ABS-CBN compound in Barangay South Triangle, QC (the street is named after the ABS-CBN founder himself), Rampa will have its soft opening tonight (17 January) and its grand opening on 17 February.
Seguerra's conjugal partner, actor-Pinoy film development advocate Liza Diño, is also a co-owner. The main owners are actor-entrepreneur RS Francisco, Cecille Bravo of Intele Builders and Karma Lounge managing partner Loui Gene Cabel.
The troika of drag queens known as the Divine Divas are also co-owners, according to Francisco at the recent media huddle for the bar's soft opening held at Karma Lounge, which is also near ABS-CBN. The drag queens are Precious Paula Nicole, Viñas De Luxe and Brigiding (their performers' names, of course, not their legal ones). Precious Paula Nicole was the winner of the first season of the reality TV show Drag Race Philippines in 2022.
It was through that show that Seguerra first got involved in drag productions. He directed Drag Race Philippines' "Untucked" series and all the workroom scenes of the main show.
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In February 2023, Seguerra directed the first Divine Divas show outside a bar. The venue was the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, QC. Diño and Seguerra produced the show under their Fire & Ice Productions, which also produced nearly all the awards events of the Film and Development Council of the Philippines when Diño was its head under the Duterte administration.
In July 2023, Seguerra joined the cast of ABS-CBN's iFC series Drag You & Me, top-billed by Andrea Brillantes as a young woman who pretended to be a gay boy so she could join a drag pageant and possibly win the P500,000 cash prize for the emerging drag queen.
Rampa's ground floor is the drag artists' performance hall and upstairs is the dance area. The bar is now the home of the Divine Divas, said Francisco.
Is the controversial drag queen (for her "Our Father" in Black Nazarene outfit) Pura Luka Vega welcome to perform at Rampa? Francisco's reply: "Maybe yes, but perhaps not the same act."
Vega belongs to another camp of drag talents, the group identified with transwoman TV-film director Rod Singh's Drag Den, the drag reality competition show that premiered on Prime Video.
Rampa's coming into existence seems to signal a closing of ranks among the LGBT communities in the country. Rampa and Drag Den have come up with a common IG, whose first announcement is that every Thursday night at Rampa will be Drag Den's night, beginning tomorrow, 18 January.
The night will kick off with a viewing party of the premiere telecast of season 2 of Drag Den, followed by a meet-and-greet with the winners of season 1 and the 10 contestants of season 2.
Capping the night will be a show of Drag Den queens, including NAIA, the Season 1 winner.
Introducing 'Badingger-Z'
Is it time we got a gay Pinoy superhero other than the now-iconic Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah created by visual artist-illustrator Carlo Vergara in 2002?
Award-winning filmmaker Real Florida is offering us a new one — a gay superhero he calls Badingger-Z. The comic book is published by CreaZion Studios, a media company of which he is the founder and executive vice president. He is also the company's chief creative officer.
The company is also into managing talents, with international Pinay actor Dolly de Leon as its ward for the Philippines (De Leon has another agent for her foreign films and other engagements).
The company also produces films, TV shows and media events.
Florido's debut film, 1st Ko Si 3rd, starring Nova Villa and Freddie Webb, competed in Cinemalaya 2014 and bagged for Dante Rivero a Best Actor award. Villa also got her first Gawad Urian nomination for her performance in the film.
The complete title of Florido's comic book is Badingger-Z: The Fabulous Rainbow Crusader of this World, The Universe Rather.
Badingger-Z, wearing a dazzling rainbow cape, is set to become the beacon of hope for the small town of Santo Tomas.
In the debut volume, Badingger-Z and the Accla Assassin, audiences are introduced to Ading, a timid teenager who, wearied by bullying in a military campus, returns home with a vow never to return to the academy.
Unraveling the mysteries guarded by his adaptive mother, Ading stumbles on a mysterious particle in the forbidden woods, transforming him into Badingger-Z — a rainbow-surfing superhuman with unparalleled strength.
As the Cyborgas launch an assault on his hometown, Badingger-Z emerges as an indispensable defender, facing not only the half-human half-robot attackers but also the enigmatic mastermind of the chaos — the Accla Assassin.
"I believe that a superhero like Badingger-Z is crucial today, representing the LGBTQIA+ community in a story where they are the main characters, not just sidekicks," said Florido.
The filmmaker revealed that his comic book was inspired by a college play written by Rommel Dela Cruz and Byron Barinuevo of the university organization Magwayen Creative Scholar's Guild in the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
The comic book illustrations are by Alfred Galoroza, a visual artist from Cebu, with additional artwork for the cover art by Jermaine Tublo from Davao.
Badingger-Z and the Accla Assassin is set for release in four installment comic books, with Series #1 gracing shelves in January. Enthusiasts have the opportunity to secure their copies through advance reservations at https://creazionstudios.com/badingger-z/
