Artist imagines the present day fate of Darna’s bato-carrying brother Ding

Israel Bobadilla did not expect that his illustration of an old joke would go viral, but less than a day after initial posting, his depiction of Darna crying over her brother Ding's body has been shared over 2,000 times.

Bobadilla posted the art without captions, but the punchline can be heard by anyone familiar with the Darna lore: "Ding, ang bato!"

For the unfamiliar, bato is the Filipino street slang for methamphetamine or locally, shabu.

"I remembered a very old joke regarding Ding as a pusher, kasi nga bato also means shabu here in the Philippines," Bobadilla told GMA News Online in a chat exchange. "I just recycled the joke. I was laughing as I was drawing then slowly as I finished the line art of the piece it hit me: This is disturbing."

Bobadilla noted that the Darna comics always have present-day issues and his illustration turned into a fan art or even homage of sorts.

"For the past month or so, medyo naging talamak na ang vigilante killings and I kept on seeing disturbing images on the news and social media. I'm used to doodling very bad puns and word plays in Facebook," he explained.

In his version of disturbing images, a cardboard sign that reads "pusher ako" is taped on Ding's body.

Bobadilla stated, "May maniniwala ba kay Ding na si Narda ay nakikipaglaban sa babaeng a la Medusa?"

Ding, he confirms, could be easily be mistaken for someone high offering "bato."

The humor of the situation is not lost and Bobadilla said, "So far with what I saw, parang mas madaming natawa and I find that very disturbing."

"You know he's a child, you know he's innocent, he was killed and then why are you laughing?" he said.

Bobadilla disclaims that he does not have "noble intentions" with his art and considers it a happy coincidence if it makes people think about certain issues. —KG, GMA News