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Mar

7

Philippine Adventure & Romance Stories #1 at Summer Komikon!

Filed Under Comics Artists, COMICS CONVENTIONS, Filipino Artists, Philippine Comics | 21 Comments

Some of you may remember me talking about this title back in September 2009:
Philippine Adventure and Romance Stories Preview
http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/1998

The first issue has finally been printed and was soft launched during Renaissance at SM Megamall on February 21. A few local creators were on hand to promote and sign copies including Rico Rival, Abe Ocampo and Clem Rivera.


From Left: Abe Ocampo, Rico Rival and Clem Rivera

The title will be officially launched at Summer Komikon on April 17, 2010, and will have more of its creators on hand to sign copies.

I was able to get a copy during Renaissance and I have to say it’s a pretty nice package. I think this comic book is remarkable in that it represents a significant leap in the evolution of Philippine komiks.

While Carlo Caparas and Sterling Publishing released new komiks in 2007 which offered nothing new in terms of format, storytelling, production values from how komiks were published decades ago, the publishers of PARS (Philippine Adventure & Romance Stories) took its cue from the younger generation and released their comic book in graphic novel format, full color in glossy paper, and what’s more, it’s completely in English. It’s in English, I’m told, because the comic book will actually be distributed more widely abroad.

The publisher for this is Goldenlife Development Foundation, Inc., who is basically Art V. De Guzman Jr., editor and one of the contributing writers. For all practical intents and purposes, this is a self published comic book by a veteran komiks creator.

When Rico Rival signed my copy “To Gerry, We’re now in the same boat!”, I took it to mean that we’re all independent publishers now, and I think it’s simply fantastic.

The contributing writers include: Sarah Villanueva, Ed Galang, Jun Malgapo, Melo P. Soberano, Victoria Urbina, Romy D. Bohol, Flor Salanga, Marie F. Ruiz, Ramon Sedonio, and Art V. De Guzman Jr.

Contributing artists include: Nestor Malgapo, Manding De Guzman, Rico Rival, Abe Ocampo, Noli Panaligan, Nardy Cantillo, Clem Rivera, Tor Infante and Ferdee Bambico (colorist)

Editors are Art V. De Guzman and Nestor Malgapo
Art Director is Nestor Malgapo
Consultant is Arovel L. Jundis
Circulation Manager is Mitzy G. Velasco

The comic book is standard sized at 7″x10.5″, 112 pages, full color, glossy paper. Regular retail price is P950, but they promised to have a special convention price for Summer Komikon.

Sa lahat ng bumubuo ng Philippine Adventure and Romance Stories, Mabuhay Kayo!

Comments

21 Responses to “Philippine Adventure & Romance Stories #1 at Summer Komikon!”

  1. Jonas Diego on March 7th, 2010 10:21 am

    Ang ganda ng indie ng mga veterans! :D

  2. macoy on March 7th, 2010 10:36 am

    looks awesome. pricey, but awesome.

  3. freely abrigo on March 7th, 2010 11:11 am

    darating ba si clem rivera? my original artwork ako nya eh

  4. Hazel Chua on March 7th, 2010 2:43 pm

    jonas – may kamukha ka dito kapag tumanda ka na… lol

  5. jerome dizon on March 7th, 2010 4:29 pm

    HI Gerry,

    Available ba yung Renaissance book sa KOMikoN?
    First time ko uuwi sa pilipinas na KOMIKON.

  6. Auggie on March 7th, 2010 7:10 pm

    Gerry,

    NOLI PANALIGAN ? I thought he died a long time ago? siguro naiwan pa niya ito? please advice, thanks.

  7. Jonas Diego on March 7th, 2010 7:21 pm

    LOL! :D

  8. Ednonymous on March 7th, 2010 9:04 pm

    A must-have comics! :D I’m going to get one soon!

  9. Gerry Alanguilan on March 7th, 2010 9:38 pm

    Jerome, I’m sure the Renaissance book will be available at Komikon :)

    Auggie… yes, this was illustrated by Noli Panaligan before he passed away.

  10. dennis on March 7th, 2010 10:12 pm

    Hi Gerry,
    I thought Noly Panaligan passed away some years ago? Or posthumous itong gawa niya dito?

  11. Pinoy Comics USA on March 7th, 2010 10:36 pm

    Gerry,
    Wow. I’m coming to Manila mid-April. Sa dami ng kailangan bilhin, I have to make a list, lest I forget: Coching’s Lapu-Lapu, your Where Bold Stars Go, this one, and a few others by the younger generation. Are these komiks available in one place in any bookstore in Manila? Please advise.

    BTW, are Humanis Rex and Timawa being published as stand-alone komiks? If not, it’s about time some publisher pick it up.

    Auggie, I think I have a copy of that Noly Panaligan art somewhere, where it was originally published. But I’m so disorganized, I have no idea where it is now. His art there is awesome, reminiscent of his Payaso days.
    Rod

  12. Ariel on March 7th, 2010 11:16 pm

    this is awesome! tumaas pa ulit yung bar ng indie comics! :D

  13. Gerry Alanguilan on March 7th, 2010 11:59 pm

    Hello Dennis! Yes, sabi nila this was illustrated before Noly Panaligan passed away.

  14. Jose Mari Lee on March 8th, 2010 4:13 am

    What’s good about this indie by the veterans is its light rendering, and therefore lighter to look at. Though the scenes could still be made more cinematic because today’s readers are more tech savvy, and they would no longer settle for a traditional presentation. Those squares and rectangular frames can be minimized and some free-flowing framing be adopted, and a mise-en-scene approach to story-telling would really do the trick because that’s how the book would achieve its unique texture and resonance. The effects of Flash and Maya are so deeply embedded in today’s consciousness of readers (even in mine, unfortunately), that the more the comic art looks like a story board, the more alive it will manifest on the printed page. These vets CAN absolutely do this because I’ve seen them do it before in the old comics industry. Some very good examples of these, are Alex Niño’s layout and story telling in KILABOT NG PERSIA, Nestor Malgapo’s vibrant and bigger-than-life approach in MAGANDANG GABI SA INYONG LAHAT, and Rico Rival’s dynamic work in ANGELUS.

    I got hold of some copies of these books and the other thing I will suggest is to make the language of the book sounding more north American since they are exporting these books here. The HU-HU-HU for crying would confuse a north American reader. We SOB, we don’t HU-HU in English comics. The expression and other common phrases and slang should also be utilized for those contemporary stories. And for the period stories, well, make sure they don’t sound stilted by not using the most common expression by the English speakers. So far, the English spoken in the dialogues of these books are quite grammatically correct, it sounds like an example sentence in an English Grammar book. This sort of style is only fine for expounding the story through the captions. But, for dialogues, however, that’s another story. In their future issues, I’m also hoping they make sure not to repeat through the captions what the visuals are already revealing to the readers. This is what was detrimental to the old comics industry, let’s make sure we don’t do the same blunder again.

    I am trying to give this feedback to the talents involved in this publication because I know they can do more to improve this book. Producing an exceptional comic book will surely make or break this venture. We know the caliber of the illustrators already. A little tweaking here and there will surely make this book exceptional. And the coloring is not painful to the eye, either. It’s almost reminiscent of the old flat colors of the comics of olden days, thus, making this publication quite nostalgic to look at (i.e., the modern version of Treasure Chest Comics).

    I will write an article about this in the English Filipino newspaper I am editing here to make sure the Filipino community is informed. And lots of luck to all of you.

    Meanwhile, let’s keep the whip snapping.
    :)

  15. Gerry Alanguilan on March 8th, 2010 8:17 am

    Hello JM!

    Nice analysis on the first issue of PARS. My observation as coming from a younger generation is that I couldn’t identify with some of the values presented in the stories. For instance in the story “Harana”, relations with the same sex are still deemed laughable, and that forced sexual relations (pikot) to facilitate marriage is something people still find amusing and “not so bad at all”.

  16. Jonas Diego on March 8th, 2010 8:58 am

    Oops! Sorry about that. I was LOL-ing at Hazel’s comment.

  17. Jose Mari Lee on March 8th, 2010 9:41 am

    Gerry:

    Ha-ha. Yesiree.
    I guess we all have to move with the times.

    Something reminds me of Daniel Radcliff being kissed on the lips by a gay man onstage and the actor just went for the ride. He-he. Whether Daniel brushed his teeth several times afterwards, only Bathala knows. I guess this sort of thingy is what we may call the sign of the times: we are all equal.

    I’m with you as well with the PIKOT. But the next thing I really want to see is: a husband being punished for beating up his wife. This will be the ultimate thing that our society must face and realize. Enough is enough. The komiks will be the best tool to enlighten are male friends.

  18. auggie on March 8th, 2010 10:04 am

    JM, Gerry & Rod:

    Another obervation to jazz -up the merchandise. It obviously needs a Graphic Designer/Typographer,Book designer to make the cover more contemporary looking. There is no problem with the illustrations, these are all veterans.But the over-all graphic design look needs improvement. BTW, how much per copy? please advice.Thanks.

  19. Gerry Alanguilan on March 8th, 2010 10:39 am

    Auggie, it’s 950 per copy. They did assure me they would offer a convention price at Komikon.

  20. Pat on March 17th, 2010 3:30 pm

    Looking at the artwork makes me want to read it!

  21. vergel on March 21st, 2010 4:23 pm

    I want my copy signed by Clem Rivera. I’ve seen him once in na nagda-draw ng comics sa bahay (way back in ’94) as I am a friend of his son, ganun pala kagagaling mag-drawing ang mga pro kahit nagmamadali maganda pa rin.