WHEN Gerry Alanguilan’s comic book series “Wasted” fired its first shot in 1994, readers were shocked and won over—often at the same time—by the black-and-white mini-comic chronicling jilted gunman Eric’s dissembling of anyone who wanders into his path. Raw, cerebral and cathartic, “Wasted” was unlike anything on the racks, and by the time its eighth and final issue came out in 1996, it had attracted a passionate following.

In its wake, Alanguilan got really busy, developing into a formidable comic book creator, doing everything from self-publishing the autobiographical “Crest Hut Butt Shop” to inking Marvel’s “Wolverine.” but “Wasted,” reprinted twice in book form, was widely recognized to be his greatest work. Until now, that is-because he has unleashed something even more original and crazier than “Wasted.”

That is “Elmer,” a four-issue limited series that began in 2006 and which concluded with the recent release of “Elmer” # 4 (Komikero Publishing, San Pablo City, 2008, 64 pages). The series depicts a bizarre, alternate Philippines where the chickens have somehow gained sentience and speech, becoming a part of society.

“Elmer” hatched with the reader following malcontent rooster Jake Gallo, who just can’t seem to catch a break, what with his being the underachieving brother of a movie star and now he discovers his sister is about to marry a human, of all things. A trip back to his childhood home leads to the discovery of a book left him by his father, the late titular Elmer. Through that book, Jake—and by extension, the reader—discovers exactly what happened when the chickens suddenly learned to think and speak in 1979.

It is a disturbing discovery. Through three issues, Jake finds out that his father and mother were in the maelstrom of the big change. Wizened Farmer Ben, ostensibly his father’s best friend, may not be all he seems. Struggling to understand his boiling resentment of humans, Jake wonders what his father experienced.

Chicken war

All that buildup comes to a chicken head in “Elmer” # 4, the plus-sized conclusion to the series. The planet has flipped upside down, as chickens and humans seem locked in a violent spiral. “This is going to get bad before it gets any better,” Farmer Ben tells Elmer. And it does get very bad, with an explosion of violence that is as visceral as it is unsurprising. Even if the reason behind the chicken evolution is not definitively explained, “Elmer” instead puts an emphasis on what happened after that worldwide event.

One can see the vestigial elements from “Wasted” achieving full form in Alanguilan’s strong, polished pencils, particularly in the ridiculously detailed avian characters, down to the wattles. Each panel teems with intelligent absurdity, especially when he depicts chickens in normal human situations as if it’s the most normal thing. The pieces of “Elmer” art by Alanguilan’s artist friends, whether highlighted in the galleries or embedded in the panels, make for great extras.

Alanguilan somehow manages to make the audacious “Elmer” tragic and funny, romantic and cynical all at the same time. “Elmer” boasts of an extraordinary story, which is, on the surface, about chickens who speak, but then transforms into a magnificent tale of what binds parents and children, of what it means to believe in the invisible and of what it means to be human in a mad world, something that can be savored in one sitting when “Elmer” is collected in a graphic novel next year. “This is our story, all of us,” Elmer writes Jake. “And it’s important not to forget.”

Fittingly, the series ends as it begins, but now seen through changed eyes, as readers will witness the enlightenment of both Jake and Elmer. This is Alanguilan’s greatest achievement, constructing a thoroughly plausible setting where fowl and man do live side-by-side, if not always in harmony. By taking the idea of “Elmer” from “silly” all the way to “sublime,” Gerry Alanguilan truly steps out from under the sizable “Wasted” shadow with this, his brave new world. It is a world where you will believe that not only can a chicken speak, but they can also live with regret and die with honor.

Available at Comic Quest, Comic Odyssey and Druid’s Keep. For more information, log on to www.alanguilan.com/sanpablo/elmer.