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Feb

12

The Life and Death of Komiks

Filed Under Comics Artists, Filipino Artists, Philippine Comics | 2 Comments

Emil Flores wrote an article about the Life and Death of Komiks, a summary of events at the “Pasko ng Komiks” at the University of the Philippines last December. The article can be read at Azrael Coladilla’s Komiks News Now.

As regular readers of this blog would know, I was a bit disappointed that I went up as one of the earliest speakers at 9am, not because I had to leave San Pablo at the crack of dawn just to get to UP on time, but because when I came up to give my talk, only a few people were there. I’m disappointed not because of vanity, but because I felt that what I had to say had to be heard by more people, preferably by everyone who would eventually attend the event. I felt that the issues I wanted to say, and in the manner I wanted to say them, were needed to be heard by all who were interested in reading and creating comics in the Philippines now that we are well on our way to redeveloping our comics industry.

Anyway, there’s an audio of it floating around so those who weren’t there could still hear it if they want to. Emil Flores gives a short but concise summary of what I had to say.

“The first speaker Gerry Alanguilan recalled his early career in komiks. He lamented how the industry itself does not encourage creativity. One publisher he approached in 1992 told him that he didn’t have to make his work look good since it was only for local readers. The low opinion of the publishers for its readers had a way of bouncing back. Eventually the readers developed a low opinion of the komiks. The opinion was so low that according to Alanguilan, the National Library deemed that komiks had no research value and were thus not preserved. Because of this lack of preservation, Alanguilan lamented how many young artists do not know the creators from the 1940s. Ironically, many of the past creators took pride in their work and put their hearts and souls into them. To counter the sad state of komiks, Alanguilan continues to preserve the komiks works from the past in his online museum at komikero.com.”

You can read the rest of the article here. Thanks Az!

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My Lettering Article got a feature on NinjaLettering.com. Click on “Spotlight”.

Comments

2 Responses to “The Life and Death of Komiks”

  1. Azrael on February 12th, 2008 3:57 pm

    thanks too!!

  2. Philip Tan on February 12th, 2008 4:33 pm

    Word, Gerry.

    Peeps should have went, especially for those who want to be in the industry or even cared a sliver bit for it. Missing out on many things about the industry, in many levels.

    I never spent a long time or took lessons or work alongside Gerry. But if it wasn’t for Gerry and Gilbert ( Monsanto ), I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing right now. Not because they got me a break or anything like that, but cuz of the right attitude, mentallity and experience that they shared, whenever I got the rare chance to hangout or chat with em. 5-6 years back.

    I am sure there are many things that involve so many issues that people don’t really want to think about, especially comic creators. Where all we have in mind are how to draw the best renderings or how to come up with the freshest, most unique artstyle ( Don’t get me wrong, those ARE important too ). I am a guilty one also. But I been trying my best to listen or read about all these things from Gerry or Gilbert, whenever I ca. Very little, but better than nothing. Hopefully I can be much more aware of these things in the future. Hopefully able to help improve tihngs. Hopefully.

    This is wierd. I just came home from my regular 14+hours of endless doodles, coffee and pencil pages. Where I usually would just check a few things and crash straight to bed. But sometihng about this article ticked me off. Maybe I am too tired and am not thinking straight. But something is wrong with the picture there Gerry.

    Ok, bedtime. Sorry if I strayed on topic Gerry. Could also be my speech and gremmar. English is alas not my native tongue…