Sep

25

Philippine Adventure and Romance Stories #1 PREVIEW

Filed Under Comics Artists, Filipino Artists, Philippine Comics | 27 Comments

It is my great pleasure to present preview pages from the first issue of Philippine Adventure and Romance Stories #1. I’m very excited by this in that it represents a shift in the way komiks are made in the Philippines. Every since the early 90′s, a younger generation of Filipino comic book creators have sought to self publish their own comic books in the lack of, and as opposed to, traditional komiks publishers.

In 2009, in the absence of any significant mainstream komiks publisher, komiks veterans including Nestor Malgapo, Rico Rival, Abe Ocampo, Tor Infante, Art and Mandy De Guzman and others banded together to create and self publish this comic book. It’s very much in keeping with how many Philippine comic books are created today.


Maria Makiling illustrated by Nestor Malgapo and Mandy De Guzman


Mary Jane Cruz, A Thomasite illustrated by Abe Ocampo


Flores De Soto illustrated by Rico Rival


Jinky and Memories of Mabini, illustrated by Tor Infante

One of the more surprising additions to this comic book is the unpublished Punta Fuego, illustrated by the late Noly Panaligan.

Noly Panaligan passed away in June 2004.

Here’s a preview of the cover for issue #2:

All stories are written by Art De Guzman

I’m told that the first issue will be released this coming KOMIKON on October 18. I don’t have any further info on page count, retail price or how long this will run, but I will continue to update this page as new info comes along.

October just became BIGGER! Mabuhay ang Komiks Pilipino!

Comments

27 Responses to “Philippine Adventure and Romance Stories #1 PREVIEW”

  1. laya on September 25th, 2009 12:45 pm

    Wow, looks great! The illustrations remind me so much of the komiks I used to read in the ’90s, like Aliwan etc. I’ll be looking out for that at the Komikon. Thanks po for posting this here!

  2. Enzo on September 25th, 2009 12:51 pm

    looking so much forward to this!

  3. Philip Tan on September 25th, 2009 1:41 pm

    hats off guy, such a feat! all my respect! : )

  4. Pinoy Comics USA on September 25th, 2009 1:42 pm

    Noly Panaligan shows why he was a Golden Age komiks illustrator. He’s work here is outstanding. I haven’t heard of Tor Infante, but he’s work is excellent, great layout, and I want to know more about the story line: seems like a Pinoy painter in Europe, who used to paint in the Manila art district of Mabini. Good to see all this komiks being published.
    Rod

  5. Artemio on September 25th, 2009 1:51 pm

    Eto ang pinoy comics style.Huwaw!!! ASTIG lahat ng involve dito…super.

  6. Gerry Alanguilan on September 25th, 2009 2:15 pm

    Sa totoo lang, marami pang ibang pages ako nakita, lalo na kay Noly Panaligan at kay Nestor Malgapo na talagang ang bagsik. Hopefully lumabas nga ito sa Komikon kasi a lot of people are really going to be pleasantly surprised that the traditional style still has tremendous life left in it.

  7. Carver on September 25th, 2009 5:25 pm

    I want to cry. Ang ganda ganda ganda! Hope they announce availability soon.

    Also, I hope some of the younger creators learn this art style. The linework is breathtaking!

  8. Oscar Gailan, Jr. on September 25th, 2009 7:55 pm

    I applaud you guys and komiks for taking the step to introduce this. I had a goosebumps upon scrolling down the pages of this site. They’ll tell it at a cracking pace, with some group of good-looking teens in jeopardy from a cool sequential art and it will probably be very readable and collectible. This also reminds one of learning to read, in the sense that each word in the captions and lay out seems ‘surprising’ and fresh.

  9. Carlo P on September 25th, 2009 8:41 pm

    That’s what I call a proper revival.

  10. Jose Mari Lee on September 26th, 2009 1:32 am

    The drawings are absolutely gorgeous because the art is not rushed.

    Nestor Malgapo, as usual, is tops. He does not succumb to over-rendering, just the right amount of lines necessary to present what’s needed to be included.

    Noly Panaligan’s work is reminiscent of the classic style of pen and ink when artists were not using chicken feet to draw.

    Even Rico Rival’s art is done with TLC. And when he gets serious, he can actually kick butts.

    This is the Tor Infante that we like to see, not the Tor Infante of TOTOY “chicken feet” BATO of the doomed (predictably even from the start) Sterling-CJC komiks.

    Maybe a more contemporary storyline that pushes the envelope more be incorporated with RP’s legends.

    A beginning with a strong “hook” would really give the reader an exciting read. Free-flowing frames in story-telling will also add to the excitement. I hope the frames are not like the old traditional komiks where every page has 6 frames, static and not playful. When the frames are unpredictably placed (and constantly moving) and laid out much more radically, the readers’ interest will be sustained to keep on turning page after page after page (mind you, I am jumping the gun here, I haven’t seen the whole shebang).

    The illustrations are well done, and needless to say that this aspect alone has shown some sort of severance from the old komiks we used to know (it is in fact, the modern, much improved version of the 1950s excellent work). Now if the lay out and the story-telling were also renovated and have totally weaned from the traditional komiks, then I’d say we have a winner here.

    There’s always room for improvement, and even if there are indications that the drawings are done with TLC, the story-telling can still be improved to make sure the effort spent in publishing these comic books reaches the pinnacle of excellence. Crisp, realistic dialogues (not stilted) will surely help to make these books worth-reading.

    Congratulations to the group who created these books. I hope this effort will refuel the local komiks industry and eventually catapult it back into the air. With the joining hands of the young indie comic books practitioners, it might even make the komiks industry in RP soar to new heights, and grow even much bigger than the old industry.

    You see, komiks can go on even if the self-proclaimed “king” Carlo Caparas is not there.

    Ouch! Did I ruin the fun or what?

  11. AJ Bernardo on September 26th, 2009 2:25 am

    Astig! Kaso, mga ser, bakit Ingles?

  12. auggie on September 26th, 2009 8:19 am

    Gerry,

    If this trend continues, eh palagay ko mi RENNAISANCE tayo sa komiks, without the help of YOU KNOW WHO. CARRY ON GUYS!

  13. aRvEn on September 26th, 2009 2:33 pm

    hmmm..dun po sa maria of makiling…hindi po MANDY DE GUZMAN YUN..(MANDING DE GUZMAN) PO..SALAMAT!.^_^

  14. Fermin Salvador on September 27th, 2009 2:56 am

    “You see, komiks can go on even if the self-proclaimed “king” Carlo Caparas is not there.”

    Sustainability will always be the key. Dapat ay may “sustainable development”. Ibig sabihin huwag magbabago ang quality kahit na maging very commercially successful. May long-term planning kung paano tuloy-tuloy ang good stories and art works. May “investment for the future” — start training new generation. Medyo advanced pa ito sabihin at this time pero let’s hope for the best possible future for komiks!

    Ang isa (isa lang para may space para sa pananaw ng iba) na pagkakamali ng pamamaraan ni CJC ay nalimitahan ang possibilities sa kanyang line of komiks nang sa kanya (works niya) lang nag-focus ang saleability nito.

  15. Ferres on September 27th, 2009 4:00 am

    “Kaso, mga ser, bakit Ingles?”

    That would require bigger dialogue balloons and we’ll see less of the art.

  16. Mel Casipit on September 27th, 2009 6:49 am

    Hi, I’m Mel Casipit. An Indie comics artist. I’m absolutely thrilled to see this new comics, I am definitely gonna buy this as well as the EL Indio reprint! :) I bought the previously sold CJC komiks and after buying the 1st 2 issues I lost interest bec of the quality of the komiks, I mean some of the art/stories is good but not excelent, I mean as a ready I’m always looking for something NEW and Unique, something that will make me think and shocked. That fourmula worked when we see a movie, we always talk about something that shocked us or what we think was never done before. Congratulations to all that’s involved in this project and I pray that It will start the new Komiks Industry in the Philippines.

  17. leinil yu on September 27th, 2009 8:23 am

    Looks great! Love the lineart and the computer colors significantly makes it more appealing and current. who did the colors, ger?

  18. Jose Mari Lee on September 27th, 2009 10:47 am

    AJ Bernardo:

    Yeah, it may be in English, but watch the Filipino touch in the dialogues. The crying woman is saying HU-HU-HU instead of SOB-SOB-SOB (no, I don’t mean son of a bitch :) Just kidding.

    Seriously now:

    With the komiks in English, if the publishers decide to market it worldwide, then there’s no more problem translating them like in the case of Spanish and French comic books. As long as the captions and dialogues are not stilted, it’s just fine and dandy.

    Maybe some people might say: But the masses want tagalog!

    Don’t the masses get their daily dose of silly, nonsensical telenovelas daily already? I see them here just to find out what sort of quality they have and I’m telling ya, man, it’s Atrocious with a capital A.

    RP komiks might come back, but I doubt if they will be in Tagalog. I think there is a new generation of komiks readers who would rather read them in English. Aling Kuwala and Mang Kiko were the voracious readers of the old Tagalog melodramatic komiks of olden days, the likes of CJC-Sterling komiks, and CJC’s forté (and I mean forté with the accent on the E.) Take note that in RP, forte (pronounced FORT – Which means STRENGTH), is always mistakenly pronounced as FOR-TEY). BUT forté (FOR-TEY) has a diferent meaning: “a thing at which someone excels.” Therefore, when a cough syrup is advertised in RP TV and radio, I always hear FOR-TEY, instead of the right pronunciation which is: FORT.

    Oh, well, that’s just an aside. Been hearing this word pronounced wrong and the French in me is just rebelling :(

    Ha-ha-ha. CJ, I’m just being a grumpy old man, forgive me.

    But, yes. I think English is definitely the way to go. If RP wishes to have a place in world comics, who would buy it in Tagalog? We already know that the tagalog komiks readers are no longer there. Remember now that RP is RP, not France or Spain. Therefore, English it will be.

    And Fermin Salvador is absolutely right. Scratches produced from Chicken feet dim sum will definitely not pan anymore if you want your comic books to excel. You’ll be better off starting a DIM SUM restaurant and serve the best CHICKEN FEET dim sum in RP.

    CJ, I apologize for talkin’ silly here, but I’ve been smokin’ somethin’ that makes me giggly and everything ’round me is bright and beautiful. It’s awesome, man, awesome. He-He-Heeeeeee!

  19. ROMIWORKS® on September 28th, 2009 12:41 pm

    walang sinabi si ondoy dito ito ang tunay na bagyo ang mga magigiting nating ilustrador sa komiks raragasa sa komikon! :)

  20. kc cordero on September 28th, 2009 4:10 pm

    leinil,

    mang nestor malgapo suggested the color pallete to be used, and the one who did the coloring is ferdee bambico.

  21. benj on September 28th, 2009 9:31 pm

    now those are comics! looks beautiful! i hope they print on glossy, i think people wouldnt mind paying extra for paper that doesnt yellow. but anyway ill be sure to get a copy at komikon. good work masters!

  22. Pinoy Comics USA on September 29th, 2009 7:42 am

    I hope the frames are not like the old traditional komiks where every page has 6 frames, static and not playful.

    JM,
    I’m glad you noticed this. Much of the illustration in U.S. comics now do away with the static 6 frames per page. You’ll notice Leinil and other illustrators use more dynamic layouts nowadays. But would you believe that Francisco V. Coching was already doing this back way back in 1947? Take a look at these illustrations for Hagibis, featured in Unang Labas: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V9j4Xaqd85A/SVGUVy3ZvmI/AAAAAAAAEQY/OBm8-efLls0/s1600-h/h10-15a.jpg
    Rod

  23. leinil yu on September 29th, 2009 8:23 am

    thanks, KC. love the different color palettes tailor made for each title.

  24. ron tan on September 29th, 2009 12:52 pm

    WOW! it has begun!!! hopefully more original “PINOY KOMIKS” titles will come out soon! :)

  25. leinil yu on September 30th, 2009 2:48 pm

    hello sir Rod!

    thanks for the link! wow. 1947. Great artists indeed:)!

  26. adam! on October 1st, 2009 2:12 pm

    Putsa, Noli Palanigan! Hay.

    Medyo nakakalungkot ang surrender ng ibang tao dito sa paggamit ng Ingles, et al, bilang paraan para maging success sa komix, na weirdly ay international ang pagkakaintindi. Hindi ko talaga maintindihan ang abandon ng pagyakap ng mga komix peeps sa globalisation.

  27. adam! on October 1st, 2009 2:19 pm

    At sana kasingganda ng pagdrowing ang pagsulat! Malaking sakit ng lumang industriya dito ay ang pangunguna ng art sa writing. Sana sa komix na ito, bigyan rin ng prayoridad ang ganda ng pagkakasulat at hindi lang ang ganda ng rendering.