19 Responses to “Philippine Komiks with Gerry Alanguilan”

1. jose mari Lee on October 5th, 2007 2:54 am

   Ah… Mr. Alanguilan:

   I am the child of the 70s :) and I guess I should say what I know about that decade concerning the komiks.

   When Martial Law was declared in 1972 – everyone was overwhelmed and in disbelief that Marcos would do such a stupid thing. But heck, it was there and we have just to deal with it.

   Same thing happened in komiks.

   Initially, after the declaration, all publications were SUSPENDED, except the ones whose owners were Marcos’ cronies.

   The komiks were in limbo for a month or two, then when everything was given the go signal to publish again, it went back to business as usual.

   The censorship wasn’t really emphasized on sex and violence, but more on ideological aspects that includes radical leanings to the left, stories that would question the authorities, et al.

   And the komiks? In those days they only wanted to give the readers SURPRISE ENDINGS from their stories so it was never really the focus of Martial Rule. But some people, including FV COCHING were uncomfortable with such millieu that the latter decided to retire.

   Mars Ravelo remained the KING of comics, and it was an undisputed title. Elena Patron was definitely the Queen. CJC was just a court jester then, but that was understandable. He was just new in the field of comics.

   Two years after the declaration of Martial law, I joined the komiks industry. It was a grand time. The circulation reached to high heavens, that Atlas and GASI had to make some titles come out TWICE A WEEK! The readership quadruple and the population was totally captivated by this reading material. They talk about ZUMA in buses and jeepneys and most readers would anticipate what would be the new development in PABLO S. GOMEZ’ well-loved serial TANIKALA. GOMEZ and JIM FERNANDEZ were both the prince of the indutry.

   Content-wise, it was glorious. Despite the fact that Redondo and company left for the US, the younger ones showcased their talents as well. They may not be masterful like the triumvirate COCHING-ALCALA-REDONDO group, yet they were also quite talented : Abel Laxamana, Dell Barras, Floro Dery & Rudy Florese’s illustrations were nothing to sneeze at!

   But what really made this decade special was the evolution of the themes tackled by the writers. The stories became more logical, and DARING. Mars Ravelo tackled issues such as DIRTY POLITICIANS (dirty Politician Sumpain Ka), LATENT HOMOSEXUALITY OF A MARRIED MAN (Tubog sa Ginto – whereas in olden days, his BAKLA characters were only used for comic relief – mostly played by Dolphy ), THE INTRICACIES OF SEXUAL DEVIATION (Oo, Ako’y Lalaki – by Elena Patron), and many more. The dialogs became more realistic and down to earth, and the stories more challenging and provocative.

   The Filipino movies were the gauge of how good the komiks were because these two media were inter-connected. In the 70s, the movies were also revolutionized. Themes were more challenging for the viewers, and most of the materials were taken from komiks. Some International awards received by the Filipino films were serialized from the komiks.

   I used to have conversations with Tony Tenorio about the state of komiks in tose days. He revealed to me that the decade of the 70s was the pinnacle of Philippine komiks. It was the most creative time (writing-wise) and… economic-wise… was the best years for the Roces family.

   Sadly, the wind of change whoosh into another direction in the 80s.

2. Fermin Salvador on October 5th, 2007 9:17 am

   JM,

   Mr. Tenorio might have believed more in the “magic” of the 70s than any other decade but it was in the 80s when he had the “clout” on the komiks industry as the editor-in-chief of Atlas, which in my opinion (without intending to offend those who prefer GASI), was the more popular and respected komiks publication at that time. And he could have done much more in paving the way towards the evolution and development of Phil komiks than any other person at that time should he had wished so. But he sticked to traditions in substance and form and even practiced self-censorship to some degree. His love and devotion to komiks as an industry and a form of endeavor is beyond any pale of doubt but, like Metternich in the 19th century Europe, he became the “rock” of old school. On the other hand, at that time and as always I have been a believer of constant innovations and artistic freedom. Looking back, it seems strange that the man (Mr. Tenorio) had so much believe in me that he hired me to become one of his editors at age 21. (I resigned after just 6 months and after that he offered to hire me again for no less than two times more to which I both refused.)

   If the komiks industry had a “ball” during, or maybe because of, martial law situation why is it that it also had another boom immediately after 1986 EDSA revolution when there were (over-)abundance of regular komiks titles (pocketkomiks also appeared briefly during this period as well as bomba komiks) from Atlas, GASI Rex, and “independent” publishers of mainstream-form komiks?

3. Reno on October 5th, 2007 9:22 am

   Very informative, JM. Thanks for sharing. :)

   Gerry, you look scary in that pic. Hopefully, you won’t look like that at the lecture. hehe. :P

4. Jose Mari Lee on October 5th, 2007 10:07 am

   Mr. Tenorio was really like the way you described him, Fermin. But I noticed that the guy liked to hire editors who were younger and had passion. When he asked Vincent and I to work as editor for Atlas, I was really surprised because that time both of us were greenhorns. I was first year university at 15, and he wanted me to work as editor. It puzzled me to no end. Of course I had to say no (and so did Vincent), because both of us didn’t want to be shackled in the office.

   But you are damn right. Tony could have swayed the trend of the komiks because he had been the Editor-in-Chief of Atlas for so many years (he replaced Ravelo after the latter bought Bulaklak in 1970. He definitely had the clout to do so, yet he didn’t. We’d never know for what reason why he didn’t. What’s more, he also tend to agree more to younger komikeros who were progressive thinkers. I mean, if I had accepted the job as editor at 15, the more the oldies would have hated me.

   Re: Martial Law & People Power.

   I tend to believe that when there is turmoil in the air, the masses tend to ESCAPE by doing things such as decorating their houses, reading komiks and books, going to the movies, and so on.

   That trend is also happening in north America. When there is recession, people tend to entertain more. Perhaps because there are fewer jobs around for them to get busy?

   It’s rather bizarre.

5. Jose Mari Lee on October 5th, 2007 10:34 am

   That’s true. Tony became the editor-in-chief of ATLAS in 1970 after Ravelo bought BULAKLAK and had to leave Atlas.

   Tony is actually open to new things in the 70s. In fact, many people were in disbelief when Tony asked Vincent Kua and I to work as editors for Atlas. We were both greenhorns then. I was first year university then and I had to turn down the offer because I didn’t want to be shackled in the office all day. So was Vincent.

   I tend to believe that later on, probably in the early 80s, some UNDERCURRENT must had been happening within Atlas Management. Because you are damn right. Tany had the clout and he could have swayed the komiks to go into another direction, yet he didn’t.

   We’d never know now. Though if he did sway the direction of the komiks, I wonder what sort of state they ‘d be in. Would have the industry collapsed in the first place?

6. dennis on October 5th, 2007 5:59 pm

   Okay to Gerry ah, subukan ko umattend kung free ako bukas.

   Yung Golden Age ay for convenience’ sake lang naman yan para ma-categorized natin ang history ng Tagalog komiks.

   Of course, each generation of komiks writers/artists may term their time to be the Golden Age when it comes to certain aspect of komiks creation.

   If we say Golden Age in general, that means we have achieved the peak years of komiks production, in terms of illustration, the storywriting, as well as the physical look of komiks.

   Definitely, we can say that these standards have been achieved from 1946-1972, with the likes of Coching-Redondo-Alcala, or Ravelo-Gomez-Del Mundo, at the helm of komiks production.

   Jomari correctly stated it, the later artists (with the exception of Nino or Nebres) did not achieve the masterful art of the the Coching-Redondo-Alcala( and others), nor even the later writers achieved the creativity of a Ravelo-Gomez-del Mundo.

   Now, that is not to demean the later illustrators/writers. True we may later have a parade of very talented writers like a Patron, a Caparas, an Olvidado, or a Jim Fernandez, but somehow, they are eclipsed by the fact that during their era, they were outnumbered by untalented writers rehashing old stories, or even just creating trash.

   How about the quality of production: how is the physical look of the komiks? the quality of paper used, the coloring(which is ghastly according to Tony Velasquez) of the komiks from 1972 and beyond?

   I can show you a komiks made fom the 1950s-60s and compare it to, say a late 1970s or later komiks. Do you think the later komiks can compare in beauty and quality to the older ones?

   Now the Golden Age of komiks must not be mistaken in terms of the general sales each era achieved during their time.

   Of course, by the 1970s and 1980s, the komiks reached mass popularity and it became the staple reading material of the average Filipino. But the quantity of komiks produced or sold should not be the gauge to evaluate if this or that era is the Golden Age or not.

   The Golden Age of Komiks was the era of Coching, Ravelo and company, period. There should not be a confusion on that. But just yet, I do not want to enclose it in the years 1946-1972, but it was definitely during those years.

7. Gerry Alanguilan on October 5th, 2007 7:24 pm

   Dennis! Wag ka pumunta bukas! Sa next Saturday pa. :D

8. Robby Villabona on October 5th, 2007 7:51 pm

   Maybe you should call these different ages something else. Instead of Golden, Silver, (may Bronze ba?) — something more descriptive of the actual trends of the age. That way, there’s no confusing with how the term is used in the U.S. (which I believe is defined by actual volume of sales), and no offending people belonging to various ‘ages’.

9. jose mari Lee on October 5th, 2007 8:46 pm

   I agree with Dennis Villegas and he is right to say that the time of the 50s and 60s are indeed the golden age of Philippine komiks. Quality-wise, the look is obviously the best. I mean, they were printing these komiks in ROTO GRAVEUR PRESS! How can you beat that? The images are done with precision, and the color, masterful. I have seen these books and the worksmanship is impeccable.

   But economically, for the publishers in those times – komiks were not their CASH COWS. I think, they still have in their hearts the TLC for these books, and not just business. And the books they published were really collectible.

   In the 70s, the quality of the printing was really crappy, but not as crappy as the present sterling ones.

   The komiks, basing from what the older komikeros told me, namely Tony Tenorio, Mars Ravelo, Pablo Gomez and DG Dumaraos – were looked down by teachers, priests, and other professional people with university degrees in the 1950s, thus komikeros were not treated seriously as well. And since the tagalog movies were also related to the komiks, they both suffered the same fate. This is the time when Lamberto Avellana, a highly educated person and film director, coined the word: BAKYA CROWD to describe loyal followers of the Tagalog movies and komiks – with the purpose of expressing his appreciation for this group. As we all know, the Filipinos were not into Tagalog movies and komiks in the 1950s. The BAKYA CROWD term was picked up by the snobbish group and used it as a negative word, and they triumphed. From the 50s to the mid-60s, it was BAKYA if you go see a tagalog movie and read komiks.

   In 1969, however, it began to change. Mars Ravelo’s MARUJA (serialized in Pilipino Komiks and illustrated by Rico Rival), was made into a movie.

   It became the talk of the country. First time in RP, the subject of reincarnation was tackled. Critics allover the country raved about this creation and even university professors of Literature discussed this very promising trend in the tagalog films. Then, when Brocka joined in – his first films were all taken from the komiks. Thus, in the early 70s, the BAKYA CROWD stigma began to abate. More and more theaters showed tagalog films, unlike in the 50s and 60s where only three theaters were exclusively showing local films: LIFE, GLOBE & CENTER theaters, all situated in QUIAPO.

   The stigma now almost gone, the popularity of the komiks soared because more people were reading them out in the open.
   That’s why the best times for komikeros and tagalog filmmakers were indeed the 1970s in terms of economic returns.

   But if we want to categorize the decades of the komiks, I still say that it is accurate to claim that the golden age of this medium were the 50s and the 60s. The Filipinos were only 17 million then, and the Americans were toying with the idea of making RP the 50th state. Many said no, and therefore Hawaii became one.

   In the 70s, the decade when these books were very lucrative as a business. And again, it is accurate to say that even if the revolutionary women had elevated the komiks in the writing department, there were also copycat writers (as what Mr. Villegas said) who would not even shiver to lift STEPHEN KING’S CHRISTINE and call it DEVIL CAR.

   And it was not just one instance. There were several books lifted. And this sort of thingy is a black eye in Filipino komiks.

10. dennis on October 5th, 2007 9:51 pm

    Next saturday pa pala naku thanks for reminding me, sobrang excite ako di ko napansin yung date :)

11. Fermin Salvador on October 6th, 2007 4:43 am

    Universally speaking, the term “golden age”, when applied to nations implies the period/era in the history of a nation when it either becomes (1) most powerful, or (2) it has done substantial accomplishments in politics, sceince, arts. Try to figure this out. The golden age of France was considered during the reign of King Louis IV even if France ruled the entire Europe during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Golden Age of England was under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century when the English people barely survived the invasion of the Spanish armada. Spain’s Golden Age was during the 16th century when it was the most powerful kingdom in Europe but at the same time they had greatmen like Cervantes or El Greco.

    From the point of view of majority of komiks readers, komiks is just one of their popular entertainments. They are not arts nor literary connoisseurs who determine the greatness of a komiks nor the “golden age-ness” of a komiks era on the basis of the quality of its stories or visuals. From the point of view of the world, no great Filipino komiks creation has so far made a niche in global psyche. In the US they might be more impressed decades back with the fact that the Philippines has a well-established komiks industry with millions of readers. [Considering that until the 60s perhaps only Japan and Phil had local komiks industry in Asia. China, Korea, Vietnam (and the entire Indo-China), India, and Pakistan were all war-torn. Malaysia and Singapore, on the other hand, were chaotic and on a dilemma whether to merge as one sovereign nation. The Middle East "oil boom" was yet to happen in the 70s.] Knowing how US businesses work, recruiting competent komiks artists from other countries (as they recruited illustrators from the Phil, one of the very few countries where they could actually recruit at that time) is just SOP and depending on the need. Not different from hiring nurses or, as Terry Hatcher said, doctors with diploma from the Phil. While komikeros might have different personal standards for labeling an era as a “golden”, “silver”, “bronze” or even “iron age” it may not be a bad idea to consider other determinants and predictors.

12. Jose Mari Lee on October 7th, 2007 2:26 am

    Actually, in the 50s and 60s, the Philippines was producing more komiks than Japan. Our country was full blast into full recovery, while Japan was languishing from the devastating legacy the 2nd world war where they lost big time.

    And maybe it is also worth mentioning that in the early 70s, Australia had no comics at all. It took ROBERT C. BORNAY, a journalist who worked as Editor in Atlas under Mars Ravelo’s term, and brother of Tony Tenorio – TED TENORIO (author of BOOMERANG KID: Pilipino komiks serial, Illustrated by Abe Ocampo), to move to Australia to start comics there. Australia has comics now because two Filipinos dared to start them there.

    It is so amazing that the Philippines have always been up there when it comes to “newer things” developing in the world.

    In the 20s to 40s, our very own invention, the MANILA PAPER was used worldwide. The ROPE made from abaca also became a standard tool internationally. Even our lowly toy YOYO became a smash hit toy allover the world.

    When Hollywood had silent movies, we also had our own. In fact, we had our first kissing scene in the movies when Filipino Film actress Elizabeth Cooper did her first lips-to-lips kissing scene in 1898.

    We were ahead on so many things, yet we lagged and lagged for some unbelieveable reasons. That’s why the new generation is our hope to showcase the world our reborn masterful work in komiks, something akin to the 50s and 60s in terms of art and craftmanship, BUT, with great innovations in terms of writing to complete the package. And we can do it. Filipinos are one of the most creative people on earth, and it’s just too bad for me because I am only 12.5% Filipino,
    and therefore – only 12.5% creative. :(

    Ayan, Inkong KC, kabaligtaran ito ng Hyper, ha? This is more LETHARGIC now. He-he.

13. Fermin Salvador on October 7th, 2007 8:22 am

    We went ahead of most other countries in Asia until perhaps the end of the 60s. In the field of architecture, the Filipinos (among other people, Americans included) were the one commissioned by the Sultan of Brunei to build his sprawling palace complex that is now world famous. Our Araneta Coliseum in QC became the biggest dome in the world for less than a year. We invented our own soda drinks, katchup (using banana) and other things. Even in the sport of basketball, the Chinese was a mismatch for an RP Team with Caloy Loyzaga and Lauro Mumar in the line-up. Historically, the 60s was period of turmoil in Asia while the Philippines was relatively peaceful. The Huk insurgency was controlled while the CCP/NPA and the MNLF was yet to be organized in the 70s. When other countries in Asia stabilized, that’s when the real competition, basketball included, began. In my view, the gradual loss of morale was the cause why we lagged behind. It’s all in the attitude. The cockiness. It’s time to re-build our country. This could be started, maybe (just maybe) by re-building our komiks industry.
    Cockiness.

14. Jose Mari Lee on October 7th, 2007 10:17 am

    Cockiness.

    Fermin, even our National Hero Rizal once said: Filipinos possess an air of insolence.

    He-he. We are a nation of arrogant people then. Ouch! Hey, but at least we really have talents to show off to the world.

    Basketball? We’ve always shown our talent for that. In fact, during the 1936 Olympics in Germany, Filipinos defeated the highly touted powerhouse Italy 32-14, and romped past Uruguay 33-23. Curiously, the Philippine delegation never made it to the Medal round (due to a controversial ruling) although it had not lost to any team except to the United States with the score of 56-23.

    This was very controversial, because the P{hilippiones would have garnered at least SILVER. BTW, due to my air of insolence that Rizal was talking about, I must declare the fact that one of those Olympic players was my uncle Charlie Borck (Spanish/German from Bicol), who was 19 years old in 1936. He’s now retired in Las Vegas, Nev.

    I like that idea of using the komiks to sort of bring honor to RP once again, not this sort of thingy about being one of the most corrupt nations in world.

    Ouch. This one really hurts and it kinda take some of my air of insolence that our hero was talking about. :)

15. Rod Samonte on October 7th, 2007 11:08 am

    Gerry and all you guys,
    Wow, you all have an excellent grasp of history, and this is a learning experience no doubt. But to get back to the original question, when was the golden age of Philippine Komiks? I think the answer is simple: Find out when Tony Velasquez Jess Jodloman, Francisco V. Coching, Alfredo Alcala, Fred Carrillo, Nestor Redondo, Emil Rodriguez and writers Mars Ravelo and Pablo Gomez were all working together in Philippine Komiks, and whatever time period that is, is to my mind the Golden Age of Philippine Komiks.
    Rod

16. Jose Mari Lee on October 7th, 2007 2:01 pm

    “I think the answer is simple: Find out when Tony Velasquez Jess Jodloman, Francisco V. Coching, Alfredo Alcala, Fred Carrillo, Nestor Redondo, Emil Rodriguez and writers Mars Ravelo and Pablo Gomez were all working together in Philippine Komiks, and whatever time period that is, is to my mind the Golden Age of Philippine Komiks.”

    Ginoong Samonte, I think may consensus talaga na ito nga ang maaari nating tawaging GOLDEN AGE. Ito ang panahon na napakagaganda ng artwork sa komiks at walang madalian. Even the komiks themselves were published EVERY TWO WEEKS (as against TWICE A WEEK in the 70s)

    The stories are interesting, especially the contemporary creations of Coching, Ravelo, Gomez, and let’s not forget Clodualdo del Mundo as well.

    Even if most of what they have written were plot driven, and a little bit on the melodrama side, they still reflected the millieu and the predicament of the country and its people’s sentiment, and therefore meaningful and quite insightful.

    That’s why the en mass joining of the women writers in the 70s is one of the HIGHLIGHTS in komiks that we cannot ignore. They revolutionized the writing by tackling new themes, and thus, even Mars Ravelo took a detour in the 70s to be more daring to tackle other subjects that he never touched in the 50s and 60s.

    If the drawings and printing of the komiks in the 70s were maintained like that of the 50s and 60s, the golden age would have extended longer. However, despite the good radical changes that took place in the 70s, many schlock writers and illustrators had the chutzpa to arrogantly display crappy work that gave our komiks a black-eye.

    Unfortunately, some of those guilty guys are still practicing their profession TODAY of copying things per se (the only different is the title), and sad to say, the unsuspecting readers are being duped, hoodwinked, disrespected.

17. Rod Samonte on October 7th, 2007 11:02 pm

    Jose Mari,
    Please include Clodualdo del Mundo in my statement. How could I have forgotten him? Thanks for pointing that out.
    Rod

18. auggie on October 7th, 2007 11:48 pm

    JM,

    Exactamente ! No doubt, the Golden Age was the 50s-late 60s. During those times there were few publishing houses and fewer titles. Frequency was forthnightly. What’s the implication to quality ? Simple. The talent pool was puro,undiluted, 101% pure unadulterated masterworks that was done with tender loving care, othwerwise, why would I lose interest to local komiks when the Masters went their separate ways and shifted my loyalty to Jim Warren ?

19. Stuff to Check Out this Weekend at Komiks.ph, Philippine Comics Portal on October 13th, 2007 1:27 am

    [...] Taken from Gerry’s blog. Read more about it here. [...]