THE EASTER egg isn?t what it used to be. Now, it refers to the secret scenes and paths hidden in DVDs and video games, the in-jokes left by the creators of movies and TV shows for their fans to discover.

If the Americans have their Easter Eggs, we Filipinos have our Balut Eggs. (Okay, I just made up that term, but it seems appropriate anyway.) Balut Eggs are those moments when Filipinos (or something Pinoy) suddenly pops up in foreign movies, TV shows, novels, and comic books. More and more frequently, Balut Eggs have been popping up in the panels of American comic books.

In Marvel?s ?Black Panther,? one of Mephisto?s minions says, ?Kumusta ka na?? (How have you been?) What?s up with these Tagalog-speaking demons?

In ?The Copybook Tales,? written by Fil-Canadian J. Torres, the lead character gets a call from his young brother who refers to him as ?Kuya (older brother).? Torres? upcoming graphic novel is called ?Lola (Grandma)? (also published by Oni Press) and it?s about stories told to him by his own lola; stories about supernatural creatures in the Philippines.

Lynda Barry?s ?One Hundred!Demons!? has an entire chapter devoted to her Filipino speaking-grandmother, where she spells out the dialogue phonetically. You?ve got to read it out loud to understand what they?re talking about. She?s even got a chapter where she compares her boyfriend to ?kuto (louse).?

In the DC Comics epic ?Kingdom Come,? Superman crashes into the United Nations building, sending people into a panic, with someone in the crowd blurting out: ?NANDIYAN NA ANG SIVA ULO! PAPATAYIN NIYA ULO! (Here comes the madman! He?ll kill us all!)" Now that was either a typo or some Filipino dialect that we?re not aware of ? Or the guy was so shocked and surprised that he forgot how to speak Filipino properly.

One of the earliest Balut Eggs I can remember is that spotted in an issue of ?Uncanny X-Men,? drawn by Filipino comic artist Whilce Portacio. In that story, we see Colossus wearing a jacket with the word ?MAKULIT? written on the back, as well as the Philippine flag. This, of course, got all the Pinoy fanboys excited. It was Whilce winking at us, telling everyone that there?s a Pinoy in the Marvel bullpen.

We were all hoping that he?d introduce a Filipino mutant in the team, but that didn?t happen. He did, however, place a Pinoy, front and center, on the ?Wetworks? team. That guy is Grail, one of the team?s top assassins, a martial artist and an expert in Escrima, Arnis de Mano, and Kali. His real name is Joel Alonday (named after a friend of Whilce).

Years later, Whilce introduced the world to more characters and creatures from the Philippines through the comic book ?Stone,? which stars the amulet-wielding Gerry Alan (named after Filipino comic book artist Gerry Alanguilan).. Thanks to ?Stone,? the Western audience got their tongues all in a twist trying to pronounce words like manananggal, duwende and tikbalang (Filipino ghouls and goblins). The story is even set in the Philippines and shows familiar landmarks like Megamall.

Around the time Whilce and Gerry were drawing ?Stone,? Leinil Francis Yu and Edgar Tadeo started drawing ?Wolverine.? In one scene, Yu snuck in a bottle of White Castle Whisky, being drunk by one of Wolverine?s enemies.

In an ?X-Men Annual,? also drawn by Yu, we got to see our favorite mutants munching on Chow King take-out food. (Which is weird, because the X-Men were supposedly in Hong Kong. Maybe Chow King had a mutant delivery guy who could teleport!)

Most recently, in ?Secret Invasion,? Yu drew President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as one of the people who welcomed the invading Skrulls to our planet. We also got to see Captain Marvel and Marvel Boy fight in the parking lot of Ali Mall. It would?ve been interesting to see the MMDA try to arrest them for traffic obstruction.

Also seen running around the streets of Manila were characters in the G.I.Joe series. Stalker, Roadblock, and Recondo are depicted chasing after their target with the help of their Filipino driver Nestor, in IDW Publishing?s ?G.I. Joe? # 2. We also get to see Snake-Eyes sneaking around Manila?s rooftops.

Meanwhile, in Marvel Comics? ?Agents of Atlas,? Mt. Pinatubo erupts again and Sentry flies in just in time to rescue a damaged Phivolcs helicopter. That particular issue was drawn by Pinoy artist Carlo Pagulayan.

In Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer?s ?Strange Kiss,? secret agent/magician Gravel travels to one of the Hundred Islands to hunt down a scientist who had the brilliant idea of creating a zombie army. In the comic book, we see Gravel riding a jeepney and drinking San Miguel Beer. He even meets a waitress named Kori, who later gets eaten by the zombies. (I?m not so sure if that was meant to be a political statement.)

Comic book artist Harvey Tolibao is another guy who likes putting Balut Eggs in his pages for Marvel. In ?Young Avengers,? you can spot a billboard for Druid?s Keep, a local comic book store. In ?War of Kings: Darkhawk,? you?ll notice that the hero is wearing a Manny Pacquiao shirt. The Pac-Man is definitely the superheroes? hero, you know!

In the pages of ?The Invincible Iron Man,? writer Matt Fraction introduces Marvel?s first Filipino super-team: The Triumph Division. (Which resulted in a slew of jokes online because Pinoys asked if the team all wore Triumph underwear.) There was also some online debate about the authenticity of the setting and the heroes. In the story, terrorists disguise themselves as Buddhist monks, which allowed them to get close enough to the team and assassinate them.

Some of the fanboys argued that there weren?t a lot of Buddhist monks in our country.

Iron Man artist Salvador Larocca, at least accurately depicted our pot-bellied policemen, as well as what looked like Quiapo Church getting blown up. The members of the Triumph Division are: Red Feather, St. George, Mighty Mother, Fighter One, The Wishing Man, The Great Mongoose and Anitun. Iron Man and Thor are shown attending the funeral of the Triumph Division.

Thor specifically came because of the death of Anitun, who turns out to be someone with power over the wind and rain. A quick wiki search reveals that in Visayan and Tagalog folklore, there?s a character named Anitun Tabu, believed to be a goddess who dwells in the sky. Iron Man later returns to Manila to meet the new Triumph Division, now composed of the sons and daughters of the assassinated team. He then makes this observation:

?Interesting thing about super heroes in the Philippines ? the legacies are familiar and date back centuries. The sons and daughters of these heroes will one day replace these heroes? they train for it their whole lives. They?re excited, nervous, eager, and full of energy. If they?re scared, they cover it with bravado, pride, and hope. Reminds me of the early days of the Avengers. The Philippines is in great hands. Long live The Triumph Division.?

With more and more Filipino comic book creators getting gigs in American comic book companies, we might soon see a Pinoy hero fighting side-by-side with Superman and Spider-Man. And maybe, when that Pinoy hero defeats Lex Luthor or the Green Goblin, he?ll ask, ?Sino?ng tatay mo? (Who?s your Daddy?)?