Amazing Grace: 2017

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Le Parisien Sensagent

Amazing Grace and Friends

Amazing Grace is a comic book character created by Percival R. Lugue, who had her debut in the Islas Filipinas' Funny Komiks, a widely read children's comic book in the Philippines. Although her exposure in the Funny Komiks is scarce and mostly a mere cameo role only, the author and the comic book artist, Percival Reyes Lugue, found this very mischievous and precocious character as having that certain je ne sais quoi or the potentials to make it as a formidable comic character in the league of Garfield, Charlie Brown, Snoopy,Calvin and Hobbes etc.

In the year 2002, Amazing Grace was launched as a regular comic strip in the Philippines' leading newspaper, the Manila Bulletin. Every Saturday from then on, the young children and the young at heart, have been graciously given a healthy dose of Amazing Grace's brand of humor.

The comic strip is known for the expression, "That's just amazing, Grace" at the end of almost every Amazing Grace comic strip. The expression is given different expressions. Sometimes it is uttered with dismay by characters who have fallen from Grace's incorrigible ways. At times the expression is uttered with exasperation because of Grace's corny jokes or at times uttered with fiery infuriation to the point of altering it a bit to express the anger i.e. " That is just amazing, Grrrrrrace!!!" But many times, it is uttered with utmost sincerity by her friends who have known her for her genuine kindness and graciousness.

Amazing Grace is basically the personification of God's Grace. The gift that may appear to be imperfect at first glance but is really kind, pure, innocent, funny and a reason to make you feel happy that you are alive in this world.

Other characters in the comic strips are:
Mercy, the very intelligent and refined best friend of Amazing Grace. Like Grace, she also has her signature expression, the always favorable, " That's just divine, Mercy." Grace and Mercy may be poles apart in terms of their personality but they managed to become genuine best friends to each other despite their differences.

Paulie is another best friend of Amazing Grace and Grace's secret crush. Grace hopes that someday she will be married to the man of her dreams, Paulie who like her also has a lot of roughness around the edges.

Teacher Linda is the kindhearted teacher of Amazing Grace, Mercy, and Paulie. But she's often put in a very sticky predicament because of Amazing Grace's pranks and mischief. Overall she's the ideal teacher that you would wish you have during your elementary education.

Divine Grace or simply Divine is the mother of Amazing Grace and of all the characters here, she's almost always the victim of Amazing Grace's annoying but lovable ways. Their relationship is comparable to the Homer and Bart Simpson relationship. Whenever they are together in the strip, they are sure to spell mayhem and hilarity.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Amazing Grace is now on Sundays

Some of my friends ask me when they buy the Saturday newspaper of Manila Bulletin, "Where is the Funpage and Amazing Grace? I tell them, "Amazing Grace and Funpage come out on Sundays." So the next time you buy a Saturday Manila Bulletin and wouldn't find Amazing Grace there, just tell yourself," Ah, Amazing Grace will come out....Tomorrow."