Oct

26

San Pablo City in my Comics

Filed Under Books, Filipino Artists, My Art, My Comics, Philippine Comics | 24 Comments

I’ve been browsing reviews of UNDERPASS online and one particular comment about my story SIM I found funny. The writer said I managed to work San Pablo City into my stories… AGAIN. ha! ha!

For those tuning in just now, SUMMIT Media, the publishing giant responsible for magazines such as FHM Philippines, K-Zone, High School Musical, Real Living, Good Housekeeping, Ok! Candy, Cosmopolitan, and many more, decided to publish an honest to goodness comic book. Ok, graphic novel. It’s an anthology of several stories created by people like Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo, Ian Sta. Maria, David Hontiveros, Oliver Pulumbarit and myself. In fairness to Carlo Vergara, he was involved in this project but had to bow out when they were affected severely by the flooding.

The graphic novel is called UNDERPASS. The theme are stories the creators find scary in their life. I’m afraid of phones, so my story is about phones. Cellphones in particular.

UNDERPASS is kind of a big deal because Summit is one of the biggest publishers right now, and UNDERPASS represents the inching back into the mainstream of Filipino made comics. Many of us independent comic book makers are content to self publish our comics and distribute at comics stories, as some get published by book publishers and get distributed at bookstores. But SUMMIT is a whole different kind of league. This is nationwide, in every book store, in 7-11s and Mini-stops, in newspaper stands, everywhere, really.

I certainly hope that this venture is successful so that we could make more comics that are as widely distributed as this.

UNDERPASS Sneak Peak: Summit Media Graphic Novels
http://www.summitgraphicnovels.com.ph/emag.html

After that most massive digression ever in the history of this blog, let me go back to the topic I started, that of San Pablo City in my comics.

In a way, I can’t help it. It’s true, San Pablo City returns time and again in the stories I write. I first did it with my story “San Dig, 1944″ for Siglo: Freedom in 2002. And two years later I did it again in my story “San Pablo, 1978″ for Siglo: Passion. In 2004, Lastik-man stopped a rampaging maniac in a grocery in San Pablo, in a story written by me and Illustrated by Arnold Arre.

The latest is “SIM” from Underpass. In one particular panel (above), the protagonist of the story walks in front of the San Pablo City mall.

Two of my future major projects will be set squarely in San Pablo City, including “Alamat ng mg Lawa ng San Pablo”, as well as “The Adventures of Mico and Jec-Jec: The Secret of the Seven Lakes”.

That artwork is 3 years old now. Goes to show how long my ideas gestate before I get around to do them. I’ll definitely work on making the art different so it doesn’t look derivative of other things.

And in the far future, probably the last thing I do before I die, I’ll probably make my ultimate San Pablo City story, James Michener style done comic book style. If you know how he writes his stories, you know the enormous scale I’m thinking about. Yeah, I don’t mind going out on that kind of story.

Comments

24 Responses to “San Pablo City in my Comics”

  1. Markus on October 26th, 2009 8:11 pm

    I’m still looking forward to that Amazing Dr. Rizal story, Gerry. I’ll wait for that :)

  2. Gerry Alanguilan on October 26th, 2009 8:28 pm

    Markus… I’m currently working on inking Ultimate Avengers, which is basically *the* day job. (Best Day Job EVER!) But in my personal time, the next thing I’ll be doing is Rizal, and writing Rodski Patotski for Arlan.

  3. auggie on October 26th, 2009 8:32 pm

    Gerry,

    Para ka palang si STEPHEN KING na karamihan sa setting eh sa hometown niyang MAINE.
    Yes, San Pablo is an interesting place.

  4. Ida on October 26th, 2009 11:40 pm

    Oh WOW. A James Michener style comic book. AND about a place in the Philippines, too. O_O That is axiomatically mind-blowing. I’ll be on the lookout for that. :)

  5. Pinoy Comics USA on October 27th, 2009 12:59 am

    Gerry,
    What massive digression? Oh, yeah, hahahaha. It’s the unmentionable now.
    Nice drawings, excellent colors.
    Rod

  6. AJ Bernardo on October 27th, 2009 2:18 am

    I was gonna say San Pablo is like Alan Moore’s Northhampton, Warren Ellis’ Whitechapel and/or every other Marvel creator’s New York.

  7. Reno on October 27th, 2009 9:36 am

    UNDERPASS is not a graphic NOVEL, it’s a graphic ANTHOLOGY. None of the stories are novels, but short stories. Or maybe we could call them sequentially illustrated books?

    Sorry, just nitpicking. :)

  8. Gerry Alanguilan on October 27th, 2009 9:50 am

    Hey Reno… after banging my head against it for years, I finally accepted it’s a marketing term, nothing more. Bookstores now have “Graphic Novel” sections. It might kill them to put a whole separate shelf for “Graphic Anthology”. To me it will always be comic books. :)

  9. Eusebio Yu on October 27th, 2009 3:56 pm

    Is that a typo in the first pic?

  10. Reno on October 27th, 2009 5:23 pm

    He he I agree, Gerry. Nothing wrong with calling them comic books. :)

  11. Jose Mari Lee on October 28th, 2009 8:45 am

    Gerry:

    The comma after the word ADDRESS looks like a period. Pakilagay ng buntot at mukhang period talaga from my monitor.

    Nagmistulang DEPENDENT CLAUSES yung dalawang sentences na magkasunod dahil nahati ng period.

    “If it wasn’t” (even if it’s not in the subjunctive mood is just fine because English speakers today say it this way, anyway)

    “who gave me THE address,” would sound more like a casual speech than “AN address”. It will sound more definite as well, rather than a GENERIC ADDRESS.

    Mukhang nitpicking episode ito ng messages, namin ha?

    Pero mas mabuti na rin dahil kung minsan, we’re too close to what we’re typing and we tend to make typos. Lalo na ako, I always goof when I’m trying to chase after my memory and my fingers to type.

    The more fresh sets of eyes to see, the better.
    :)

    Of course these are just our suggestions. Ganyan ka namin kamahal, you see! (sabay pahid ng luha). Ito kasing Reno, eh!

    :)

  12. Borgy on October 28th, 2009 9:21 am

    I have to disagree, that is not the San Pablo Mall… it does not look that clean on the quietest day, there is not enough human traffic, and the protagonist walking in the middle of the street texting without either a tricycle driver shouting at him with colorful expletives like “Hoy, gago, umalis ka dyan sa daan!!” or greasy, sweaty kontrabida-looking goons eyeing an obvious “biktima”. I think this is the DC Universe version of San Pablo (the Marvel Universe version would look 3 times as worse as my description) ^_^

  13. auggie on October 28th, 2009 2:58 pm

    Eusebio,

    You are a good proofreader/editor…nakita mo rin pala.

  14. Jose Mari Lee on October 29th, 2009 11:11 am

    Hey Borgy:

    That means that indeed, FICTION dare not write reality! Di ba? He-he.

    Puwera na lang kung si Andy Warhol: Reality Immitates fiction. Wala tayong ma-se-sey diyan.
    :)

    And this is quite ingenious on the part of Gerry to use something local but selectively present it as a universal thingy. Besides, reality is such a boring existence. Therefore, when we’re trying to simulate reality through fiction, we have to use CREATIVITY and even alter the world, or else we’ll just write a news report!

    But you have the eye, my friend, for noticing things. Great looking opening scene for the story, by the way.

  15. Gerry Alanguilan on October 29th, 2009 11:09 pm

    Salamat JM! I actually did that intentionally sa ELMER. Although the scenes looked Filipino (because I can’t help it), I tried very hard to make it more universal by not assigning specific names that would definitely place the setting. Whenever I used names, they were generic names like “Junction” or “City Hospital”.

  16. Borgy on October 31st, 2009 3:46 am

    @ Jose Mari
    Haha! I was just jabbing a pun at Gerry. Being a fellow San Pableno I know what the “real-life” version looks like. Mas malinis at idealized kasi hehe!

    Then again I’m also guilty of that when I add familiar local places as backdrop. ^_^

  17. mike on October 31st, 2009 2:11 pm

    i just wanted to say that your draftsmanship is impeccable. love the buildings and the cars… very precise and very meticulous yung lines and curves. its VERY detailed but without being cluttered. iba talaga basta architect :D.

  18. Jose Mari Lee on November 1st, 2009 2:11 am

    Borgy:

    Yeah, we know what you were saying, you were being ironic and we understood that. I was just teasing you, my man. Like most of us, you’ve seen the logic why Gerry did what he did.

    Mike:

    Exactly. That’s why it looks very appealing.

    The truth must be selective in whatever we write and draw. There’s no point putting everything in there if it will no longer add up to what we are trying to say. If there’s such a thing as brevity of expression in writing, there should also constraint in the use of lines in rendering an illustration.

    Even in film making, crowd control is the most difficult thing to execute. The director must keep the scene looking crowded, yet it should still possess the so-called Splendor of Order.

    In HIMALA by Bernal, this aspect was totally neglected or overlooked, and the crowd scene of that film looked chaotic: anything goes and allover the place! Result: I left the theater with a terrible migraine.

    Some komiks can also give us migraine if the artist does an overkill by putting all the lines and details like there’s no tomorrow.
    :)

  19. Ferres on November 2nd, 2009 9:38 am

    Jose Mari Lee,
    I think Gerry’s strong inking style would benefit more with a lighter coloring style. Like the ones on the lower pic.

    I tried watching ‘Cloverfield’, couldn’t last 15 minutes… Completely unwatchable for me. If the new Trek movie is filmed the same way, then I can not watch that either. :(

  20. Jose Mari Lee on November 2nd, 2009 11:02 am

    Ferres:

    He-he. What can I say. I have the same sentiment about this hyped movie.

    The material is as thin as an onion skin, very little is explained, since the story is told completely through the video camera.
    Dizzying, man. Gave me vertigo. I nearly vomitted. And I mean, seriously.

    Ay, carramba! Gentes, no mira esta pelicula.
    :(

  21. auggie on November 2nd, 2009 11:39 am

    Ferres,

    I also got pissed -off by that movie. Is that the latest state-of-the-arts CINEMA VERITE? kindly elaborate. Thanks….

  22. Gerry Alanguilan on November 2nd, 2009 1:03 pm

    Hey Ferres. Star Trek wasn’t filmed Cloverfield style. :)

  23. Ferres on November 2nd, 2009 8:32 pm

    Jose Mari Lee,
    15 minutes equals 3 hours of nausea. People who like First Person Shooter games will probably fair better. They could probably use this film to disperse unruly crowds. Talk about cruel and unusual.. ;P

    Gerry,
    Thanks for the info, I won’t have to cancel this purchase. :)

  24. Jose Mari Lee on November 3rd, 2009 2:01 am

    Auggie:

    If this is what they call the new CINEMA VERITÉ, they’re missing the tricycle totally. :)

    I would rather classify it as: IDIOTIC CINEMA.
    This one is worse than riding the modern roller coaster, or even worse, the new, so-called Westcoast Wheel, a 90-foot tall giant wheel that will surely empty your stomach completely after the ride! But, at least the ride only lasts for a few minutes. :)

    Ferres:

    You’re absolutely right. Cloverfield seems to last a lifetime. Are there enough young people possessing a very strong tolerance for motion sickness these days? Honestly, I’d rather take the Seattle-British Columbia-Alaska Cruise anytime than sitting in front of this film for the whole 85 minutes of it. Many people actually left the theater ASAP just like what you and I did. :)

    I’m still in disbelief how the producer of this film decided to such an awful concept of film making. Definitely a stinker. :(