Tuesday

Zsazsa Zaturnnah

2 Comments September 5, 2006 – 4:59 pm | Share and Save | Permalink |  Print This Post |

Zsazsa Zaturnnah creator Carlo Vergara has a blog, and that’s where I snatched this illustration:

Zsazsa Zaturnnah

I failed to watch the musical, but I heard there’s going to be another run in December. And of course, the movie version by Regal Films is currently shooting to be shown for the Metro Manila Filmfest, also this December.

For those who are not familiar with this character, read on…

(From http://en.wikipedia.org)

Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a comic book character created by Carlo Vergara, a graphic designer and illustrator based in the Philippines. Zsazsa Zaturnnah, or Zaturnnah, attracted considerable attention from Philippine media in the years following her first appearance and currently enjoys a cult fanbase.

Zaturnnah, a powerful and voluptuous female with large red hair and a muscular physique, is reminiscent of the DC Comics character Wonder Woman and the classic Filipino superhero Darna. The distinct difference is the sex and sexuality of her alter ego Ada, who is an effeminate homosexual male. The proprietor of a small town beauty salon, Ada receives a stone that, when ingested, physically transforms him into Zsazsa Zaturnnah.
The character first appeared in the graphic novel “Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah” (The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah), originally self-published in two parts in December 2002, with very limited distribution. When the graphic novel won a National Book Award in 2003, given out by the prestigious Manila Critics Circle, Vergara approached book publisher Visual Print Enterprises to compile the two parts into a single volume for distribution throughout the Philippines.

The graphic novel landed on the 12th spot of top selling Philippine fiction books for 2005, based on records of National Bookstore, the largest bookstore chain in the country. It is also being used as reference in gender studies courses in some universities, including the government-run University of the Philippines.