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Mar

27

Is Philippine Comics DEAD? Of course NOT.

Filed Under Filipino Artists, Philippine Comics | 13 Comments

The question of whether comics is alive or dead in the Philippines is a puzzling one. To me it is obvious. Philippine comics *is* alive and well, and I’m baffled why it’s even questioned at all.

The problem lies with history. The Philippines has had a very long history of comics where people grew up knowing comics to exist only in very narrow terms: Comics are Tagalog, they come weekly, they come cheap, and they can be bought and read easily on the sidewalks and your neighborhood sari sari stores.

For a long time, that is the only kind of comics people knew. And unfortunately, to this day, a lot of people simply cannot accept that comics can be anything else. If comics do not satisfy those characteristics, then they couldn’t possibly be comics.

But the thing is, comics CAN exist beyond those characteristics. All it takes if for people to open their eyes.

It’s tough to adapt and change, specially if one has gotten used to a certain way of doing things. There are many things that have changed in our lives as Filipinos. Technology has transformed us and changed us. Looking back at us in the 70′s and 80′s we really can’t believe we could ever be so primitive. We can’t imagine life without cable, home video, cellphones and the Internet. Many kids today don’t even have a clue what “45 rpm” means.

Change has come to comics as well. BIG changes. The comics today are very different from what they were 30 years ago. Some of them are in English for example. They don’t come weekly but come rarely, but in one big complete package in one drop. They can’t be found at sidewalks but in bookstores, and can be rather expensive. If they are ever serialized, they come out monthly, and only in bookstores and convenience stores. One of the biggest changes is this: they no longer sell in the millions.

Comics has SPOILED us. We grew up expecting them to be everywhere and sell in the millions. We have learned to expect a lot from our comics.

But now I think we have to learn to accept that comics are no longer going to be what they were. They can no longer sell in the millions, and they can no longer be as freely accessible as they were before. And yes, they can no longer be cheap, like a lot of things you buy today can longer be as cheap as they were in 1980.

But that doesn’t mean that comics is dead. If we applied the same expectation from poetry and prose books then we’d be proclaiming them dead as well. Can you buy Filipino poetry and prose books on your local sidewalk? Are they cheap? Are they all in Tagalog? So, therefore, are Filipino prose and poetry DEAD? Of course not.

They’re in bookstores. Along with comics. Where they are both freely available. They many not be comics that you grew up reading, but hey, like it or not, accept it or not, they are still comics.

And don’t keep having expectations of “reviving the komiks industry” from every person who just wants to come out with his comic book. That’s unrealistic and stupid. We should be thankful for every single individual who spends his own money just to create these things, because they are the people who are keeping comics alive, no matter what.

The Filipino comics industry as it is now is no longer the giant as it once was, but now it’s just one of the guys, hobnobbing with the prose and poetry books at your local bookstore. And I think that’s just all right. The industry is small, but it is alive and well and in the hands of people passionate about CREATING them.

Go into your local National book store and more likely than not you can buy comic books by Arnold Arre, or by Carlo Vergara. You might see Budjette and Kajo’s TRESE. You might even see a SIGLO book here and there. At the magazine section you might see the many comics that Sacred Mountain publishes: Bayan Knights, Tropa, Rambol. Then there’s those comics by the Mangaholix. You might even see Private Iris by Arnold and Jamie Bautista. And yeah, once ELMER is compiled, you will be able to see it at National Bookstore too. And there’s plenty more in there.

If you are looking at all these comics and you think it’s not good enough, wanting comics to be as huge as it once was, as freely available as it once was and as cheap, then you’ll just end up disappointed and bitter every time. But if you will loosen up, take it easy, and pick up one of these comics or two, you just might end up enjoying yourself.

Comments

13 Responses to “Is Philippine Comics DEAD? Of course NOT.”

  1. Gab on March 27th, 2009 9:05 pm

    Not to mention indie komikeros that humbly sell their comics in conventions. Comics that are reproduced through photocopying but more often than not, have great content.

    I study in an art school, and I see that a lot of my illustrator friends start this way. But they’re really good at what they do. :)

  2. Pinoy Comics USA on March 28th, 2009 12:50 am

    Gerry,
    Komiks is not dead, but unfortunately the masses who used to read it is gone, or more specifically the masses is not the target audience anymore, the new komiks is now more geared to the young, the collectors, the comic fan, those who can afford and certainly to internet users. English is the language of choice, whereas before it was Tagalog, it was cheap (there’s a running commentary in JMLee’s blog about how it was even used as toilet paper), in short it was available everywhere, it was even translated to different dialects (e.g. Ilonggo in Hiligaynon). I don’t know how far-reaching the new komiks are, but I seem to read complaints in as big a city as Cebu, that they don’t get copies there of say, Elmer?).
    Rod

  3. dennis villegas on March 28th, 2009 12:50 am

    I think that when the question arises “Is Philippine comics dead” people mean the once flourishing industry when people can see comics everywhere they go, from the sidewalks to the supermarkets, and the sari-sari stores.

    These people are the MASA who, even if they cannot afford to buy komiks, can rent from the local sari-sari stores where the comics hung like a sampayan. Komiks then can be bought everywhere–from sari-sari stores to supermarkets, to the newsstands, the sidewalks, etc.

    Komiks was a big part of the Filipino culture back then. Komiks was the national past time. Almost everyone has read a komiks in one way or another –the katulong, the teacher, the jeepney driver, etc. It has affected the Filipino way of life.

    Of course, now this is no longer the case. And, like you’ve mentioned, you need to go to bookstores to buy komiks. Sadly, no one among the MASA goes to the national Bookstore to buy a komiks–they only go there to buy coupon bonds and other school supplies for their kids. And in the National Bookstore you will not easily spot these komiks by Mssrs. Budjette, Arre or Monsanto since 1. these komiks are relegated to a very small corner (in fact they are even among piles of books) and 2. these komiks do not look like the usual komiks of the past.

    These new comics from the new generation is no less amazing–in fact they are even more beautiful than any that has ever been published in the Philippines. But the common people may yet to appreciate them. The common people may not yet be ready for them as they are still under the spell of the Abangan, Itutuloy-type of komiks.

    I think this is the one phenomenon why people think that KOMIKS already DEAD, not that the Komiks industry is dead, because there ARE still beautiful komiks in the Philippines. But that the phenomenon of komiks being part of our daily lives may have been DEAD forever.

  4. jerome dizon on March 28th, 2009 5:17 am

    Just check the description on this Ebay Item..
    http://cgi.ebay.ph/JUN-LOFAMIA-SPOT-ILLUSTRATION-ORIGINAL-COMIC-ART-26_W0QQitemZ320353685298QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_211?hash=item320353685298&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A833|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

    As much as I wanted to bid on this item.. The item description made me NOT to.

  5. Dexter on March 28th, 2009 5:23 am

    Amen to that…:D

  6. Eusebio Yu on March 28th, 2009 12:04 pm

    I think it’s not a matter of accesabilty, or even price. Consistency is ,in my opinion, the key. Most of the Komiks mentioned are published quite a while ago. It’s not even a matter of quality. Are there any New or on going titles that come out on a monthly, or even quarterly basis? I’m not talking about those geared towards the younger generation. While Komiks certainly is not dead, it ain’t exactly flourishing either. Now, artists, on the other hand, is a differnt story

  7. Gerry Alanguilan on March 28th, 2009 12:23 pm

    See Eusebio, you still have that expectation of comics should come out on a regular basis. That it should come out Monthly. But as the entire point of this post is all about, it’s about shifting our thinking of what comics are and what they can be.

    Consider something like Martial Law Babies. 400 plus pages. In one book. How can you apply a monthly mentality to it? It’s a book that’s will always be available at National, as long as there’s stocks. Unlike periodicals, which disappear in two months, these books can stay there indefinitely.

    It’s a comic book that Arnold does when he is free from his day job. Comics is not his full time job. We can all wish it could be, but the economic reality is that he can’t. The same applies to Budjette Tan, Carlo Vergara and myself. How can you apply a monthly mentality to Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah? It’s just one whole complete book, and yet it’s enough to spawn a movie and a still going successful musical. Carlo is working on a next volume now. Budjette is working on new Trese stories. And I will come out with a Rizal comic book in October. Again, one full book. All done in between everything else. We do it when we can. Voluntarily.

    I strongly disagree that this is something that can be perceived in the negative as “floundering”. Are prose books floundering because the authors are only coming out with their books once every year, or once every two years? A shift in mentality is required. A shift in the thinking of what comics are, and can be.

    Think then of comics as books. How often does someone like Bob Ong come out with a book? Once a year? Ang tagal naman! Is he floundering? Why isn’t coming out monthly? Do you see the kind of analogy I’m trying to make? Many comic books now are being formatted and published like books. And they don’t come out very often.

    A comic book doesn’t have to be monthly, and it doesn’t have to be serialized. Like Arnold’s comics, they can come complete in one book. One appears this year, and in another year, another comic book would appear, completely different story, different characters, complete in one book.

    I agree we’re not flourishing either. But we’re not floundering. If we are, you won’t see us anymore. We’ll be off doing something else. And yet this year, next year, we’ll back with whole new comics. And we’ll just keep coming back with new comics year in and year out. How do you explain that? Really, there’s just no getting rid of us. :D

  8. Robby Villabona on March 29th, 2009 9:15 pm

    Ang alam ko lang dead ay lahat ng komiks projects ni Aklas Isip.

  9. Eusebio Yu on March 30th, 2009 7:38 pm

    Well, Gerry, if you make it, I will buy it. But, truth be told, not all of those komiks you mentioned are really that good. And I hope these creators remember : you are only as good as your last work. I see your point. But it would be nice if we could keep pace with our Asian neighbors in terms of output. Never mind Japan, the US or Europe. How about being at par with Malaysia, Hong Kong or even Singapore, whose land area is only about the size of Quezon City, and if I’m not mistaken, produces comics in large quantities.

  10. Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » March 30, 2009: Spider-Man’s useless age rating on March 30th, 2009 9:52 pm

    [...] Filipino komiks dead? Gerry Alanguilan says “of course [...]

  11. rhardo on March 31st, 2009 2:59 pm

    hello po, Sir. this article is so inspiring. can i feature this at komiks.i.ph kahit excerpt lang?

  12. jay on April 5th, 2009 3:57 pm

    with respect to the old practitioners of the craft

    I think the reason why comics died in the philippines is because of lack of interesting
    stories that the public would pay attention to,

    osamu tezuka and will eisner both lived at a time where their respective countries were hit by hard times yet they managed to print out interesting stories people payed attention to nevertheless,

    no offense is meant to the latest practitioners but the stories that come out just aren’t interesting or have art that I would like to look at

  13. wezcoast on April 25th, 2009 12:27 pm

    comics is one of sentimental treasure here in the phillipines, but without this ewan diko kaya..i hope one day that i see the comic industry will arise even have a quality or not..i see the effort of piooner tony velasquez around 19th century para i angat ang industring ito. I am a student in Cosmopoint International Institute of Tech here in timog Q.C taking a Computer Graphics but i realy like a comic illustrator..and one of my thesis is How to prevent mimicking a foreign comic like Japanese manga e nauna pa tayo dun..nakakainis talaga dapat tangkilikin naman natin un atin bago sila..nakakadisapoint kung ang comic dito sating bayan ay mamatay..sana multuhin sila ni rizal saka ni velasquez..joke.but hindi to biro this is our country’s Pride ultimong si wonder woman niri create lang ki darna..Tsktsk diko ma take yung ganun.