Citizendia
Your Ad Here

This article is about Filipino comics character Darna. For other uses, see Darna (disambiguation).
Darna
Darna
Vilma as Darna
Publication information
Publisher Mango Comics
First appearance Pilipino Comics #77 (1950)
Created by Mars Ravelo
Nestor Redondo — first illustrations
In story information
Alter ego Narda
Team affiliations Captain Barbell, Lastikman, Dyesebel, None
Notable aliases Daria, Varga (original known alias before Narda)
Abilities psionic abilities allow her flight, super-strength, super-speed, vision powers, (including heat vision in 2005 TV series), limited psychic influence, near invulnerable skin

Darna is a fictional character and superheroine created by Filipino komiks (Philippine colloquial term for comics) legend Mars Ravelo. In Comic books and other stories with a long history first appearance refers to the first occurrence to feature a Fictional character. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mars Ravelo (born October 9, 1916 in Tanza Cavite, Philippines - 1988 was one of the most successful Filipino Graphic Nestor Redondo (born April 5, 1928, in Candon Ilocos Sur The Philippines; died December 1995 was a Comic-book Artist best-known Captain Barbell is a fictional Filipino Superhero created by Mars Ravelo. Lastikman is a Fictional character and Superhero created by Filipino Comics legend Mars Ravelo. Dyesebel is a popular Mermaid character in the Philippines The comic book character was originally conceived by the Filipino A superhero (sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero) is a Fictional character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do Filipinos or the Filipino people are the citizens of the Philippines. Comics in the Philippines ( Filipino: Komiks) is the general term used for Comics created or produced in the Philippines. Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" Mars Ravelo (born October 9, 1916 in Tanza Cavite, Philippines - 1988 was one of the most successful Filipino Graphic In her more popular incarnations, she is a warrior from outer space manifesting herself through a girl from Earth, named Narda.

Darna was originally known as Varga and first appeared in Bulaklak Magazine, Volume 4, #17, on July 23, 1947. Events 1632 - Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe France. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Ravelo had differences with the editors of Bulaklak Magazine and Varga's name was changed to "Darna". The character was re-launched on May 13, 1950. Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Nestor Redondo drew the first Darna. Nestor Redondo (born April 5, 1928, in Candon Ilocos Sur The Philippines; died December 1995 was a Comic-book Artist best-known

Since then, Darna has become a Philippine cultural icon and the most recognizable character among Ravelo's creations.

Contents

Character overview and history

Overview

Regardless of her many incarnations, the 1950's origin of Darna begins with a village girl named Narda who finds a small white stone, a tiny meteorite from outer space. Narda swallows the stone and shouts "Darna!" - becoming a mighty warrior ready to defend Earth from evil forces. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001

Abilities

Darna's powers include flight, super strength, super speed and near-invulnerability. In the 2003 retcon, the latest releases of the comic, this is due to her psionic background. Thus a form of telekinesis enhances her speed and strength and allows her flight. Her skin has a high level of invulnerability because of her race. Her psionic abilities also allow her to exercise limited psionic influence or telepathy. For weapons, the ruby encrusted in the winged medallion on her helmet also augments her psionic abilities, allowing her to emit a powerful concussion blast and the medallions that make up her belt can be used like throwing stars (shuriken). Shuriken (手裏剣 lit "sword hidden in the hand" is a traditional Japanese Concealed weapon that were generally used by shinobi no mono (or ninja as In the 2005 TV series, she also has heat vision, lent by the ruby. In the TV series, she uses her bracelets, similar to Wonder Woman's to deflect bullet impacts since impact also hurts. Narda transforms into Darna, and vice versa, by shouting out their respective names. First, however, Narda has to swallow the white stone, which conveniently comes out of her mouth every time Darna changes back into herself. However, it was not so in her comic incarnations (see below).

Contrary to what some Filipinos may believe, Darna was not named after the magical Ibong Adarna (Adarna bird), which appears in a Philippine epic of the same name. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation In Bulaklak Magazine, Narda was already established as Varga's mortal identity. "Darna" was simply an anagram of "Narda". An anagram ( Greek anagramma 'letters written anew' passive participle of ana- 'again' + gramma 'letter' is a type of Word play Also, see [1].

History

Early years

Darna's first adventure (as Darna) was first serialized in the pages of Pilipino Komiks #77, where she was pitted against the sultry snake goddess Valentina. In the Filipino Comic book Darna, Valentina is Darna's arch-enemy Here, Narda, a young girl, swallows the stone, which has the word Darna on it, and transforms into Darna by shouting out the latter name. Likewise, Darna turns back into Narda by shouting her name. The stone, from the planet Marte, stays in her body, and her secret is known to her grandmother, and her brother Ding, who becomes her sidekick. SideKick was an early Personal Information Manager (PIM Software application by Borland launched in 1983 under Philippe Kahn The superheroine quickly gained popularity among Filipino comic book readers.

Later years

Starting in 1951, several Darna movies were made. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Some made from 1973 onwards starred the future multi-awarded dramatic actress and politician Vilma Santos. Vilma Santos-Recto (born Maria Rosa Vilma Tuazon Santos November 3, 1953) is a popular multi-awarded actress and politician in the Philippines. In these 1970s films, Darna's origin was changed; no longer a little girl, Narda was now in her late teens. Also, she herself becomes Darna, unlike the original where she just "channels" her (not unlike Jason Blood and Etrigan). The Demon is a DC Comics Superhero series created by prolific Comic book writer-artist Jack Kirby. Only Ding knows her secret in this version. Also, the stone comes out of Narda's mouth every time she changes back; she has to swallow it every time she wants to transform (This became standard for following versions). Darna is not specified as coming from Marte, just as a "warrior of Light". This version of Darna became most people's idea of the character for about 3 decades. A catchphrase popularized by the movies and said by Narda runs, "Ding, ang bato!" ("Ding, [give me] the stone!")

A TV series was also produced in 1977. A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance Created by Ketchie Benedicto and airing on KBS 9, Darna! The TV Series starred another future multi-awarded dramatic actress, Lorna Tolentino, as Darna/Narda. Victoria Lorna Aluquin-Fernandez, better known as Lorna Tolentino, is a Filipina Actress, host, executive producer and widow of actor

The Mango Comics miniseries

In 2003, an award-winning Darna miniseries was published by Mango Comics, with major input from Ravelo's family. This version showed Narda as a college student who first found the stone 10 years before. However, the details of Darna's origin was changed again - Her race of "Adarna Warriors" originally came from the planet Tiamat, as did Valentina's, the "Serpent Queens". In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is the sea personified as a Goddess, and a monstrous embodiment of Primordial chaos. Their respective peoples had warred for many years. On Tiamat, Darna's race used artificial wings, reminiscent of the Hawkmen and Hawkwomen of Thanagar, while Valentina's race was reminiscent of Nagas as well as Gorgons. For other meanings of the term see Hawkman (disambiguation Hawkman is a Superhero in the DC Comics universe. Hawkgirl is the name of several fictional Superheroines all owned by DC Comics and existing in that company's DC Universe. Thanagar is a fictional planet in the. Thanagar is the original home of the humanoid Thanagarian race noted for the discovery of gravity defying Nth metal. Nāga ( नाग, IAST: nāgá, Indonesian: naga, Javanese: nogo, Khmer: neak) is In Greek mythology, a gorgon ( Greek: γοργώ or γοργών transl Because of the war between the Adarna Warriors and the Serpent Queens, they fled the planet Tiamat and went to the planet Nibiru, also known as Marte.

Here, Darna (both the name and the character) is explicitly linked to the Adarna bird (Ibong Adarna).

The 2005 TV series

Main article: Darna (2005 TV Series)

In 2004, executives of GMA Network and Hugo Yonzon, current license holder of Darna and head of Mango Comics, signed a licensing agreement for a new Darna television series. Darna is a 2005 Drama Fantasy action Television series based on the Mars Ravelo 's fictional character "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Global Media Arts (GMA Network Incorporated ( a Philippine multi-media conglomerate is a Television network in the Philippines. It premiered in Filipino homes on April 11, 2005 and garnered a 47. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 1% rating according to AGB, making it one of the highest rated pilot episode ever in Philippine television. A television pilot is a test episode of an intended Television series. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic During the fourth episode, it garnered 52. 1% overnight ratings from AGB, the highest rating yet for the show because this was the episode that Narda transforms into Darna for the first time. Filipino actress Angel Locsin starred as Darna. The television series ended Friday, November 25, 2005. Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

A lot of changes and new material were added for this incarnation of Darna. The show follows the original with Narda finding the stone as a child, but she only becomes Darna and discovers her powers at age eighteen. It follows the 2003 comics in making Darna part of an alien race (the Adranika of Marte) who fought another alien race of serpent people (called the Anomalka). However, many new allies and enemies were invented for the show, as well as more backstory. Notably, Narda and the (half-Anomalkan, half-human) Valentina are half-sisters.

Four actresses who previously played Darna were involved in the TV series:

The series features several prominent Filipino actors and actresses as the villains:

Similarities and inspirations

Some may point out that Darna is very similar to (or less charitably, is a rip-off of) Western superheroes, particularly Wonder Woman. Maria Katrina Irene Pe Halili, or popularly known as Katrina Halili, is a Filipina Actress of Chinese descent

Aside from the bullet deflection misconception (perpetrated by the Viva Films movies), Darna's similarity to Wonder Woman is superficial, if anything. Besides the fact that super strength, flight, and super speed are common and hardly unique powers among superheroes, the character has several differences with her purported source material. She has always possessed the power of flight from the very beginning (as Varga in 1947, and as Darna in 1950), while Wonder Woman only gained the power to "glide on the air currents" in the 60's and the real power of flight in the 1987 relaunch of her title after the Crisis on Infinite Earths changed the DC Universe. Crisis on Infinite Earths is a twelve-issue American comic book Limited series (identified as a "12-part maxi-series" and crossover The DC Universe ( DCU) is the fictional Shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place

She does not require bracelets to deflect bullets with, because they already bounce off her body (like Superman). Superman is a fictional Comic book Superhero widely considered to be one of the most recognized of such characters and an American Cultural icon It seems that only Viva Films' rendition of Darna copies Wonder Woman, because they have her deflect bullets with her bracelets. It should be noted that bullets also don't kill Wonder Woman if hit directly unless the force is stronger than human technology or weaponry. Her bracelets are used for style to demonstrate superhuman reflexes and deflection of any form of projectile, not just bullets, and she's nearly as durable as Superman. Strength levels are also different, as Wonder Woman is many times stronger than Darna, being one of the DC Comics' characters who helped move the earth's moon using brute strength. Also, Darna is not nor has she ever been an "Amazon princess". She is an "Adarna Warrior" from an alien race called Adranika from the Planet Marte (a. k. a. "Nibiru").

Darna's chief inspirations did not include Wonder Woman, but were rather Superman and Captain Marvel, whose comics Ravelo regularly read. Superman is a fictional Comic book Superhero widely considered to be one of the most recognized of such characters and an American Cultural icon

According to confirmed sources, the reason why Mars Ravelo chose to create a female superhero rather than a male one was because Ravelo grew up with an absent father; thus, he never had a father-figure and he considered his mother as his biggest hero growing up. His mother represented Darna, and young Mars Ravelo represented the kid sidekick, Ding.

Supporting characters

Darna's family

Invented for the 2005 TV series:

Allies and Enemies

Over the years, Darna has fought against and alongside many characters in her various incarnations, like:

Allies

Enemies

In the 1950s, she was originally a bitter, deformed woman born with snakes for hair from ordinary human parents. When she grew up, her parents were killed by the local people and was subsequently adopted by a creature named "Kobra", a giant serpent with a hag's head. Valentina was soon referred to as "goddess of the snakes" who had a close familiar - "Vibura", a loyal serpent. In Early modern English Superstition, a familiar spirit, Imp, or familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family (Vibora is Spanish for viper. VIPeR is a Military robot developed by the Israeli company Elbit Systems and intended for use in warfare )

In the 1973 film "Lipad, Darna, Lipad" ("Fly, Darna, Fly")", she is played by Celia Rodriguez and is known as "Dr. Valentina Vrandakapoor", with a Ph. D. in Reptilian Zoology from the University of New Delhi. New Delhi (नई दिल्ली ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ نئی دلی is the Capital city of India. Valentina is portrayed as the Queen of the Serpents and moonlights as a ramp model. She was seen walking on the lobby of the Manila Hotel in a turban covered Medusa wig, bare midriff Indian sari, and on her belly button, a giant ruby known as the “Star of Bombay” that can blow away suspecting Bollywood wannabees. Bollywood (बॉलीवूड بالی وڈ is the informal term popularly used for the Mumbai -based Hindi-language Film industry in India Humorously, she sees Darna flying across Rizal Park and she says, “Sino ba yang babaeng mababa ang lipad?” ("kalapating mababa ang lipad" - literally low-flying doves - is a Spanish-derived Tagalog euphemism for women of low repute, i. Rizal is a province of the Philippines located in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 20 kilometers east of Manila. Tagalog is one of the major languages used in the Philippines. A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener or in the case of doublespeak e. prostitutes. )

In the 2005 TV series, Valentina is a human/Anomalkan hybrid. She is Braguda's greatest and most favored apprentice when she returns to planet Earth. She believes herself to be Narda's cousin but later learns that they are half-sisters. Ultimately, she helps Darna kill Braguda.

Classic villains

TV series villains

Locations

The following locations are featured in Darna stories:

List of Darna movies

Over the years, Darna has appeared in many films.

and Bella Flores with Vic Vargas

Other Appearances of Darna

Actors Who Played Darna in Movies and Television

Songs Featuring Darna

Latest updates

GMA has announced the comeback of Darna into the TV screen with Mars Ravelo's Captain Barbell Meets Darna. Kamikazee is a Rock band from the Philippines composed of Jay Contreras ( Lead vocalist) Jomal Linao ( Guitars Back-up vocals Josephine "Yeng" Constantino (born December 4, 1988) is a popular Reality TV winner of Pinoy Dream Academy &mdasha It was already shown in GMA's teaser-trailer of 2008 shows however, the face of Darna and Captain Barbell were not shown. Angel Locsin, the actress who played Darna in GMA Network's 2006 series already transferred to rival station ABS-CBN. It is said that they are still deliberating on the casting.

See also

References

Zuma is a Filipino comic book character created by Jim Fernandez that has a two headed snake (one head on both ends that rests on his shoulders The Panday ( Blacksmith in the Filipino language) whose real name is Flavio, is a fictional Philippine comics character created
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic