25 Responses to “Rudy Florese’s Resureccion (Muling Pagkabuhay)”

1. auggie on March 20th, 2008 4:58 pm

   You are right Gerry, masyadong CONTRIVED, yung script, it’s not realistic. And contrary to popular opinion, hindi ganoon nung 60s. Sensible ang mga babae noon, hindi sila papatol basta-basta sa mga child-abusers, at mga wino….

   But the illustration is superb….
   Sumasablay din pala si Tony V. ano ?

2. Rod Samonte on March 21st, 2008 12:40 am

   Gerry,
   Wow… excellent illustration. This is as close to Redondo as I’ve seen any illustration in this time period that was Redondo-influenced…well other than Tony Caravana. Except for the faces, Florese might even be closer. Caravana was a litle on the dark side, always fond of heavy blacking on his illustrations. I was still in the Philippines in 1966 and collecting komiks, no wait a minute, this is Pinoy Komiks, which I didn’t collect or wasn’t aware of.
   Haven’t read the story yet.
   Rod

3. jose mari Lee on March 21st, 2008 2:17 am

   This is what I meant when I said that stories in our local komiks during the 50s and 60s were laden with contrivances and illogicality. Name all the fallacies in the annals of Philosophy and you could pinpoint the loopholes and the minute details that our wrtiters of olden days hadn’t cared about.

   This is the reason why I have always liked CLODUALDO DEL MUNDO. His writings were much better than others because his mission seemed not just to make the readers cry or laugh or simply entertain them – but he also taught them how to think and be critical and discriminating.

   In the 70s though, when a lot of women writers joined the komiks, their stories seemed to have paid attention to this ignored aspect. And in doing so, even MARS RAVELO had to do a detour and became even more concerned about logic (I mean, gosh, just look at JACK AND JILL – the contrivances and the impossibilities of its universe are so blatantly ridiculous), but after the ladies joined in, The Official King of Tagalog komiks produced extremely memorable pieces, such as MARUJA, TUBOG SA GINTO, GAPANG SA LUSAK, TRAHE DE TRAHEDYA, and so on.

   That’s why I am so glad the the women drastically changed the face of komiks. Without them, men writers probably hadn’t cleaned up their acts and we’d still be tormented by the illogicalities of the so-called GOLDEN ERA OF PHILIPPINE KOMIKS.

4. auggie on March 21st, 2008 8:06 am

   Rod,

   1966, ang hari noon, CRAF Publications( Redondo Komix, Alcala Fight Komix, CRAF KLASIX, AMADO LOVERS KOMIX). Ang Pinoy Komiks parang extension na lang ng ACE Publications.

5. Fermin Salvador on March 21st, 2008 10:15 am

   Literally “golden age” refers to a “mythical period” in time when people were so innocent, child-like, and naive. And it’s hard to think that the komiks writers (or majority of them) at that time were so detached from existing realities. Perhaps, it was the existing reality then and sort of still existing today. I’m not referring to physical and hard realities but the Pinoy frame of mind in general. Even today, you could be amazed how Pinoy would still rely on religion, poetic justice, and other abstract concepts like “karma”, “hell after death”, and cathartic power of the conscience when wrong-doings and tyranny are happening right before their eyes and despite being virtually united in their collective clamor for change. Maybe, this what makes Pinoy poor a poor Pinoy –in the critical eyes of other people (fellow Pinoys included) who fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, were blessed with an opportunity to acquire education of the more “advanced” kind to know better. You analyze the contemporary movies done by LVN and Sampaguita and the tenor were the same. You analyze some of the more current tv/movie melodrama today and you could still taste some of the “classic flavors” of yore. You could even perceive some serious attempts to “shock” yet failed to mask that undying “tatak-pusong mamon”. Is this a psycho- sociological phenomenon occuring only in this part of the planet? Reality, in its more complex scope, refers not only to things that can be perceived by the senses. There is also what some call the “soul of the nation” and this could be perceived not with the images that could be captured by the lenses of the camera nor by looking at the literal figures/objects being illustrated by an artist but way beyond that. Komiks as a Pinoy art and literature and culture has always been an important pillar in propagating and keeping alive this “soul of the Filipino people”. Even its legacies and historical heritage is affirming to this truth.

6. Gerry Alanguilan on March 21st, 2008 10:49 am

   JM, Fermin, perhaps we should have a separate time frame for the Golden Age of Philippine Komiks and Philippine Komiks Art. It’s very clear that the greatest artwork to grace our comics was in the period between the late 1940’s and the late 1960’s. I still consider that time to be the Golden Age of Philippine Komiks Art. Pero sayang kasi there’s so much terrific artwork that’s accompanied by bad writing. In a late 50’s comic book in a superbly drawn short story by Alfredo Alcala, the story was so excruciating that it made me curse several times after reading it.

   But as you have pointed out, stories became much better written in general from the 1970’s onward.

   Do you have any theories as to why our writers have developed that kind of writing in the 50’s and 60’s? There has to be a place where these sensibilities sprung from. Was it because of our sorry state after WWII? Or is it the result of our hundreds of years not being the kings of our own domain, and that we’ve gotten used to feeling “API”?

7. auggie on March 21st, 2008 10:51 am

   Siguro common ito sa THIRD WORLD countries. Yung pagka B&W ng mga characters without the shades of gray. Indian Bollywood, movies, Korean probably and Pinoy , share the same mold. Kulang tayo sa Critical Analysis. Kung ano ang sabihin ng Authority Figures, bilib agad tayo hook, line and sinker. At ang biggest authority figure eh yung CATHOLIC CHURCH, na parating nag re-remind tungkol sa DAGAT-DAGATANG APOY doon sa mga erehe, kaya ang labas MOMOY tayo. Walang astig na nagkwe-kwestion sa simbahan… ewan ko kung bakit takot bumangga. Yung mga trapos , naiintindihan ko dahil daw mawawalan ng boto pag election time, but I think ,that’s a myth. kaya hindi kataka-takang ang kwento sa komiks, TV, Radio, at Cinema eh CONTRIVED at malayo sa realidad.

8. auggie on March 21st, 2008 11:05 am

   Gerry,

   Nag-improve generally ang story-telling ng late 60s, 70s and onwards dahil na din sa WORLD WIDE FERMENT, in philosophical, literary, political,economic, cultural, artistic ZEITGEIST. Kung mapapansin mo, Student Riots sa Paris noong ‘68, fueled the Stones song STREET FIGHTING MAN, mga Marxist idealist and philosophers around the world, mga liberation theology sa South America, charisma ni Che Guevarra sa mga students both on developed and underdeveloped nations, MaoZedongs, LITTLE RED BOOK, and his CULTURAL REVOLUTION in China, and his exhortations on idealistic youth to SERVE THE PEOPLE, yung riots sa BERKELEY, sa Bay Area, sa Kent State, sa Columbia University, yung DILIMAN COMMUNE sa UP, yung Outlaw biker gangs na HELLS ANGELS, yung radical na BLACK PANTHERS sa Oakland California, yung COUNTER CULTURE MOVEMENT ng mga Hippies sa San Francisco, the music of the Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix et al all were exhortations of CHANGE. Ika nga ni BOB DYLAN : YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS HAPPPENING, BUT YOU DON’t KNOW WHAT IT IS, DO YOU, MR. JONES ?

9. Jose Mari Lee on March 21st, 2008 1:41 pm

   When I used to read old issues of the Philippine Free Press, Panorama, and other old magazines, from time to time, there were articles about the KOMIKS. Most of them were actually mean-spirited, if not downright cruel. But, it seems to me that in the 50’s and early 60s, komiks were actually looked down not only by these critics, but by a huge chunk of the population, namely: educators, parents and even the Catholic church. They elaborated on how illogical and “silly” the writings were, and how some of the artists were copying only the western artists. Funny how they praised AMORSOLO, but dismissed the likes of Coching as BAKYA. This fact baffled me, because as far as I’m concerned, Coching’s and Amorsolo’s drawings were both wonderful. Personally, I agree with the critics when it comes to “writing.” Most, but not all (writers of olden days of komiks) were simply interested to entertain, and nothing more. They didn’t go deeper to give us any three dimentionality in terms of characterization, or uniqueness of characters, and didn’t leave any elbow room to give the readers enough space to do their own thinking and/or interpretation of their masterpieces. There was just no room, whatsoever, for educating the readers. Being exposed to literal and spoon-feeding reading material, the readers had no opportunity to let their own imagination take flight – because there was nothing to explore anymore. Everything was served to the readers in a silver platter, (like the head of St. John The Baptist for Salome’s pleasure). What was there, was the only thing to see, and nothing more.

   Understandably, this “defect” was also rampant in the local movies. When PSGs BILANGGONG BIRHEN was filmed by Sampaguita Pictures, all the horrendous defects of the komiks version were used verbatim in the film and it really looked HOKEY!

   The critics put the blame on the fact that most komiks writers that time were either school drop outs and/or simply high school graduates, others didn’t even finish high school.

   And it’s true. You can count on your fingers the writers who had some university education, let alone a Degree of some sort in those days.

   Then suddenly, we get the likes of DEL MUNDO who was not only a very talented writer, but was also an intellectual, and though he produced well-written, logical stories, the masses were never gung-ho to read his work like the way Ravelo and Coching were loved. But because of the quality of DEL MUNDO’s material, they translated really well in films and even gave the Philippines its first international award for best picture.

   If MARS RAVELO was not an inherently intelligent guy and not a voracious reader, I doubt if he were able to sustain a career in the komiks.

   In the 1970s, when more university educated writers and artists joined the komiks, it radically changed the scenario. Well-equipped with higher education, it’s just normal, therefore… to get more sophistication from these new personalities. Let’s face it. Do we expect to get more… from, say… a high school drop out security guard, or from someone who had a degree in Psychology or literature?

   I might be inviting stones by saying this, but…personally, I believe that this is the underlying fact why the Philippine Komiks and Philippine movies got better: HIGHER EDUCATION.

   “Kaya ang sabi niya, Freddie… mag-aral kang mabuti…”

   ARAY KO! May nambabato! Teka, makatakbo na muna at baka ulanin ako ng mga bato. Ay, ayun si Superkapre! Siya ang batuhin ninyo ;D

10. APOsaTALAMPAKANniKAPRE on March 22nd, 2008 10:28 am

    Punyimas, mauubosan na yata ako ng mga KAKAPREHAN.
    Hamo’t, JM, huwag kang mag-alaala, malapit ng idagsa ko ang mga tunay na mga kuwento ko sa TALES OF TWO RTISTS na basado sa tunay na buhay na hindi kathang IPIS lang, HHHHHHH …….

    Mas maganda ang mga storya na basahin kung ito ay naranasan ng writer kaysa sa storya na kathang isip lang. Kung baga sa sili ay FAKE ang anghang ng mga kathang isip lang. Halimbawa, mas magandang basahin ang storya tungkol sa sundalo kung sinulat ito mismo ng beteranong sundalo.

    Iyong kasamahan ko na kapitan sa PMA na may pinakamaraming medalya sa katapangan na nakita ko ay kung magkuwento sa giyera ay iba sa nababasa kung mga kuwento ng mga writers na hindi sundalo. Ang mga kuwento niya ay puno ng paghihirap, kalungkutan, sakit ng damdamin, at pagkamuhi sa giyera. Ni minsan ay hindi ito nagkuwento tungkol sa katapangan. Ganito rin ang napuna ko sa mga kuwento ng tatay kung sundalo.

11. auggie on March 22nd, 2008 10:55 am

    JM,

    Tama iyang obserbasyon mo. Pagdating na sa THEORY & PRACTICE syempre, walang tatalo sa mi formal education. Bibihira yung mga genius na walang training at formal education. Exception yun, at statistically speaking, they don’t count. Tingnan mo yung mga TITANS sa cinema, puro may mga edukasyon iyan, kaya kahit pagbabalibalikatarin mo iyan, kaya nilang e-explain ang ginagawa nila. I-compare mo sa mga OIDO lang, hindi nila mai-explain. Kahit sa Lokal, tingnan mo ang gawa nila Bernal, Brocka, at Mike de Leon, ibang iba sa mga walang formal education. Sa komiks naman , talagang nag-improve dahil marami ng University/College educated at na-expose na sa bagong pagiisip dahil nga sa world-wide phenomena noong 60s na ferment sa intellectual/educational/political/ economic front.
    Kaya lang mas magaling talaga ang illustrations noong 50s-60s, kaya nga nawalan na ako ng gana noong 70s na sa lokal komiks….

12. Fermin Salvador on March 23rd, 2008 5:33 am

    If you come to think of it, the so-called cultural revolution was worldwide and, as always, the Philippines was just slow to catch up. But it did catch up. During the early 60s pop music (including rock and roll stuffs) were mere bubblegums. And even the incomparable Beatles made bubblegum R & R songs early in their career until guys like Bob Dylan told them that you must “say something” in your song and the Beatles obeyed. And where the Fab Four went then the rest of the known pop music world followed. The story were the same in the movie stories before directors like Francis Fold Coppola, Martin Scorcese, etc. appeared. In literature, same case. What was poetry then before Langston Hughes when there were only Robert Frost? Right here in our country, the fiction gods were Genoveva Edroza, Liwayway Arceo, et al. until the batch that included Rogelio Sikat, Edgar Reyes, Efren Abueg turned everything upside down.

13. auggie on March 23rd, 2008 11:12 am

    Tama. Pero noong late 60s, sumusulat na si Pete Lacaba ng ala HUNTER THOMSON, sa Free Press, at sa ASIA PHILIPPINES LEADER. Si Danny Dalena, naman , social neo- realism ang mga banat niya sa mga spot cartoons , usually accompanying the text of Pete Lacaba.

    Bubble Gum pop nga noon ang music, until THE POET OF YOUNG AMERICA,ROBERT ZIMMERMAN ( a.k.a. Bob Dylan), entered the scene. Nakakagulat ang kaniyang mga lyrics na pumukaw sa collective consciousness ng isang buong generation.

14. Fermin Salvador on March 24th, 2008 12:59 am

    Mid to late 60s na rin nagsimula sa Pilipinas ang “cultural revolution”. Nagkaroon pa ng dramatic protest ang mga young writers noon 1969 nang gumawa sila ng “bonfire” at sinunog ang mga libro ng mga anila’y literaturang hindi ayon sa panahon. Nakalimutan ko lang banggitin pero kasama sa mga kabataang manunulat noon si Pete Lacaba at ang kapatid niyang si Emman na napatay ng mga militar sa Mindanao. Kahit papaano nagkaroon din ng impact ang “rebo” sa komiks writing. Pero hindi masyado. Talagang may sariling daigdig ang komiks. At ang sumunod dito na “romance pocketbooks” ay kagaya rin ng komiks na nakahiwalay ang daigdig sa tinatawag na nga na “lehitimong panitikan”. Sa “legit” kasi “extreme” and reyalidad unlike sa komiks na laging nangingibabaw ang tatak pusong-mamon ng Pinoy. Yung DEKADA SITENTA at GAPO ni Lualhati Bautista ay bestsellers na pocketbooks/novels pero iba ang readers nila sa readers ng regular local pocketbooks. At tulad ng unang sinabi ko, maaaring nakatatawa sa iba na may mga Pinoy na madaling magpatawad at maniwala kaya/kahit nagmumukhang tanga. Pero sa aminin ma’t hindi ay isa rin itong “reyalidad”. Tanggapin man natin o hindi, hanggang sa mga panahong kasalukuyan ay mayoridad pa rin ng mga Pinoy ay naive at madaling mapaniwala. Mas marami pa rin ang nagtataglay pa rin ng “pusong mamon”. Kung realidad rin lang ang pinag-uusapan ay hindi natin puwedeng ideklarang malayo sa realidad na likas na malambot ang puso ng mga Pinoy. Nakakasama ito kung minsan pero hindi rin masasabing wala itong naidudulot na buti. Sa kabila ng kahirapan ay kabilang ang mga Pinoy sa pinakamasayahing tao sa buong mundo. At ang mismong “isyu” ng mga “kritiko” noon pa sa paraan ng mga kuwento sa komiks ay ang pagiging “mababaw” nga daw. Hindi kasi nila nakikita ang buong larawan. At pag sinabing ang buong larawan — ito ay ang komiks sa konteksto ng reyalidad. Maraming anggulo ang reyalidad at may sariling anggulong pinagtutuunan ang komiks in the same way na may sariling anggulo ng reyalidad na bukod tanging pinagtutuunan ang simbahan, militar, kumunista, feminista, pasista, labor groups, environmentalists, artsakists (proponents of arts for arts sake), cause-oriented groups, etc. At kung ang anggulo ng reyalidad na naging tradisyunal na reyalidad na laman ng komiks ay hindi na gusto ng mga mambabasa, panahon na upang ihanap ang komiks ng bagong anggulo ng reyalidad. But this remains to be seen and is a different topic.

15. Fermin Salvador on March 24th, 2008 1:08 am

    May kanta noong early 90s na may ganitong lyrics: “Para kang komiks, para kang sine, madrama ka kasi…” I’m not sure kung Bodjie’s Law of Gravity ang kumanta. May pagka-light-hearted na ballad ang tunog na typical sa mga compositions ni Ryan Cayabyab at mga kanta ng Apo hiking Society.

16. auggie on March 24th, 2008 7:44 am

    Siguro yung PUSONG_-MAMON, ang resulta ng daang-daang taon na impluwensiya ng Simbahan, hanggang ngayon ay very obvious pa rin. Dumaan na ang MAKIBAKA, HUWAG MATAKOT, SERVE THE PEOPLE, MARXISM-LENINISM, MAOZEDONG THOUGHT, CULTURAL REVOLUTION, TEACH -INS, KM, SDK, MPKP, NUSP, CPP/NPA, METROCOM INI, BEATLES/MONKEES paramilitary units, JOEMA SISON, LAGMAN, etc.etc.. para tila wa epek sa reyalidad ng Komiks, lalo na kung mga outputs ni CJC…. Bakit kaya ?

17. Jose Mari Lee on March 24th, 2008 2:00 pm

    Ang masasabi kong problema ng ganitong panulat ay nagpapatuloy dahil na rin sa NAIVETÉ ng mga sumusulat mismo. Kung ang nagsusulat ay nagkaroon ng exposure sa iba’t-ibang klase ng panulat at mga pagbabago sa larangan ng panulat, sila’y tiyak na magbabago at susulong sa panahon. Ayaw kasing magsipag-UPDATE ng mga ito. May pera na sila ngayon para matuto, ayaw pang gawin. Ang problema’y ito: naging succsessful ang mababaw na panulat noon, na ang mga mambabasa’y mababaw rin ang panlasa. Ngayong ang mga mambabasa ay higit na nakauunawa sa kung ano ba ang worth-reading, naiwanan na ng mga readers yung mga nagsusulat sa komiks kaya tal como esta, wala nang nag-patronize sa komiks.
    Again, this is another case of COMPLACENCY on the part of those writers who became successful in komiks in the old days. Many are so SMUG and still believe that they are KINGS!

    Well, if this will be the “attitude of the day”
    God bless your soul, Mr. Manunulat. You better wake up and smell the sautéed BAGOONG or you’ll end up like ICHABOD CRANE who slept for 20 years. Kung matulog ka’t magising at nananaginip ka na lang pala.

    It’s time to wake up, pañero. At ito’y payo rin doon sa mga mahilig MANGOPYA sa mga paperbacks na galing sa west. Kung yung mga masang nagbabasa noon ng mga masterpieces ninyo na ginamitan ng KODIGO ay nagdala sa inyo ng FAME AND FORTUNE (sa pangongopya), ngayong mga panahon ay hindi na kayo sasantuhin ng mga mambabasa. Lagot kayo kay TED PAVON from Laguna, Pavon. SHAME AND TORTURE na ang ang sasapok sa inyo ngayon, hindi na FAME AND FORTUNE. Look what happened to one veteran komiks writer/illustrator KUNO who claimed ALEX ROSS’ character as his own (and of all places ay kung bakit dito pa sa PKMB!). Hindi ba’t animo’y LUMINDOL NG INTESITY 10 at halos matabunan ng katakut-takot na EXCREMENTO ang nasabing manunulat/dibuhista? Kaya kuwidaw na kayo ngayon. Wala nang ganyanan. Gamitin na ninyo ang inyong sariling isip at katalinuhan sa paggawa ng inyong mga obra.

    Hindi ba karapat-dapat lamang ito, Auggie?

    Kaya karapat-dapat lamang na limiing mabuti ang mga obra sa mga komiks na ito. Kung gusto ninyong bumangon ito at muling kagiliwan, sumunod na sa panahon at ilagay na ang mga dapat mabago rito. Yung mga dugtungang nobela na sa premise pa lamang ay may problema na sa plausibility… huwak na kayo ngawa sulat-sulat nito, mga Pai-sano… sabi nga ni MR. WONG (by Rubeny).

    Hindi ba’t ito ang tamang dapat gawin, Ginoong Fermin?

    Kung may magagalit na naman dito sa aking mga sinabi, huwag sa akin ninyo ibunton ang inyong mga PANGGIGIGIL. Hayun si Superkapre! Tiradurin ninyo. Daliiii!

18. auggie on March 24th, 2008 4:24 pm

    Relevant pa rin ang tanong ni Bobby Dylan di ba JM ? YOU KNOW SOMETHING IS HAPPENING, BUT YOU DON”T KNOW WHAT IT IS, DO YOU, MR. MANUNULAT ? hindi ko alam kung sino ang mas au courant ( ika nga sa Pranses), ang mga manunulat ba o ang mga artists, lalo na sa context of the komiks industry. Ano sa tingin ninyo, JM, Fermin, Rod Samonte ? alin sa dalawa ang mas sharp ang senses pagdating sa mga bagay-bagay na mahalaga ?

19. Gerry Alanguilan on March 24th, 2008 8:09 pm

    Speaking of Bob Dylan and Philippine Komiks, nakita nyo pala ito? Video na ginawa ko two years ago. :)

20. Jose Mari Lee on March 25th, 2008 1:54 am

    Auggie:

    That Dylan’s song is again, one of his thought-provoking questions left for the listeners to grapple with and I agree that it applies in this discussion.

    However, sina Coching, Ravelo, Gomez at Del Mundo ay mas may grip sa status quo ng kanilang mga sariling panahon. They were quite good when they were writing dramatic stories.

    But when they go western, or comedy, or action, naglalabasan ang napakaraming loopholes. Minsan, sa drama ay pumapalpak kapag involved na ang mga bagay na kailangan ang reserach pero hindi naghanap ng reliable source. Halimbawa na lamang ang BILANGGONG BIRHEN ni PSG. Ito’y tungkol sa mental Illness. Pero very obvious na hindi siya naghanap ng isang reliable authority on the subject, such as a psychiatrist, to make the whole thing believeable. Instead, PSG went ahead and did his own thing and the result was disastrous – contrived, melodramatic, questionable and extremely implausible. And because of these problems, all the characters looked so wishy-washy and as a viewer (of the movie) and as a reader (of the komiks), I felt cheated. Isa ring dahilan kung bakit kapag nasa komiks ay na-e-entice yung mga readers ay lagi kasing may cliff-hanger ang bawa’t issue. Reading 4 pages every 2 weeks, it was impossible for a reader to gauge the problem of the seriealized nobela. But read the synopsis submitted by the writer and you’d be amazed how easy for you to see the problem. But, most people do not see the synopsis. They see the finished movie and then they realized how terrible the overall content of the material was.

    During my university days, the Mass Comm club in FEU had the first Film Forum at the FEU Auditorium. I was assigned to be the moderator of the symposium. Before it started, I was having a chat with MAR S. TORRES, one of the speakers, the director of CARMEN ROSALES/ROGELIO DE LA ROSA starrer ANG TANGI KONG PAG-IBIG. Written by Dr. Fausto Galauran, Torres filmed it following exactly the way Galauran wrote the nobela. Ang nangyari, tumaas-bumaba ang momentum ng film dahil yung mga cliff-hangers every issue ay sinunod niya. TORRES, watching some of his movies, gave me the impression of an intuitive film director. I actually liked his directing style. But for some reason, the serialized novel was so popular and Sampaguita Pictures decided that it should be followed as close as possible, hence the disaster. Though during the symposium the film he showed for the audience was GUY and PIPs ALWAYS IN MY HEART, the audience kept hammering on ANG TANGI KONG PAG-IBIG, a film that was done more or less 20 years before! It seems to me that indeed, critics are not so easy to forget after all.

    But I must admit that without ANG TANGI KONG PAG-IBIG, I won’t know how good an actress CARMEN ROSALES was. Now that I remember her again, I might as well write about her in my blog.

    Illustrators who were able to project the realism of their own time were: FRED CARILLO (masterpiece ang drawing niya sa KANDELERONG PILAK ni Del Mundo); NESTOR REDONDO (especially when he was PSG’s teammate. GONZALES looked really awesome!); COCHING (when he did his contemporary obras, such as TALIPANDAS, GIGOLO, TATLONG MAGDALENA). ALCALA seemed to thrived well on historical genres (but sad to say that the writing was always bordering on the BORING side).

    But, I think we all agree that the 1950’s-1960s komiks were the most visually-beautiful because of the wonderful drawings in them, despite the sad reality that (most, but not all) the writings were quite so-so.

21. Fermin Salvador on March 25th, 2008 6:55 am

    Mr. JM, totoo nga rin siguro ang sabi nila na inborn ang talento pero napakahalaga pa rin ang pagpapaunlad nito. kasi ang talent ay nararapat ma-develop into “craft” instead na “crap”. Sa komiks kasi noon ay naging tradisyon na basta nakaisip ka ng kakaibang kuwento o sa tawag nila ay “tall tales” tanggap na ito regardless kung may logic at may kasamang research sa magiging detalye. Responsibilidad, kailangan nito at kung may ganito parang ang hirap makagawa ng 100 na istorya/nobela kada linggo.

    re: LIKE A ROLLING STONE, maganda ang kuwento sa likod ng kantang ito. Sa pinakaunang konsiyerto ni Bob D na gumamit siya ng kuryente sa kanyang gitara ay ito ang ipinambungad niya. Na-shock ang audience/fans dahil pambato siya ng folks songs lovers. Stab in the back daw ang paggamit niya ng ampli, nag-booo ang mga tao. Pero dahil nagandahan din sa kanta napapa-YEAH din sila. Kaya ang nangyari, ang narinig: BOOO, YEEAAH, BOOO, YEAAHH!

    Yung kanta, actually, ay Dylan’s celebration about someone’s downfall. Here’s the lyrics:

    Once upon a time you dressed so fine
    You threw the bums a dime in your prime
    Didn’t you?
    People’d call, say, “Beware, Doll, you’re bound to fall”
    You thought they were all kiddin’ you
    You used to laugh about
    Everybody that was hangin’ out
    Now you don’t talk so loud
    Now you don’t seem so proud
    About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

    How does it feel
    How does it feel
    To be without a home
    Like a complete unknown
    Like a rolling stone?

    You’ve gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
    But you know you only used to get juiced in it
    And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
    And now you find out you’re gonna have to get used to it
    You said you’d never compromise
    With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
    He’s not selling any alibis
    As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
    And ask him do you want to make a deal?

    How does it feel
    How does it feel
    To be on your own
    With NO DIRECTION HOME
    Like a complete unknown
    Like a rolling stone?

    You never turned around to see the frowns
    On the jugglers and the clowns when they all come down
    And did tricks for you
    You never understood that it ain’t no good
    You shouldn’t let other people
    Get your kicks for you
    You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
    Who carried on his shoulder a siamese cat
    Ain’t it hard when you discover that
    He really wasn’t where it’s at
    After he took from you everything
    He could steal.

    Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
    They’re drinkin’, thinkin’ that they got it made
    Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
    But you’d better lift your diamond ring,
    You’d better pawn it babe
    You used to be so amused
    At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
    Go to him now, he calls you, you can’t refuse
    When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
    You’re invisible now, you got no secrets
    To conceal.

    How does it feel…

    Brutal na kanta!

22. auggie on March 25th, 2008 7:28 am

    JM, FERMIN,

    In fairness naman kina Coching et al. wala pa si Bob Dylan ng namamayagpag sila noon, pumasok at binulabog ni Dylan ( poet laureate of young America) ang music scene noong 1962, pawala na ang ACE publications). Kulang nga ang research noon, lalo na kong tungkol sa ga scientific plausibility ( mahal ang encylopedia, walang google at wikipedia, at internet, at very gullible pa ng mga mambabasa at wala pang mga smart-ass readers like us na maraming tanong).

    Marami pang brutal na kanta si Dylan, yung isa tungkol sa Chicks ( IT AIN’T ME BABE), parang naawa ako sa girlfriend ni Dylan. Yung tungkol sa MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, eh bagay na naman ngayon sa mga neocons sa Washington. Pakinggan ninyo ang MASTERS OF WAR, talagang indictment ni Bobby.

23. Jose Mari Lee on March 25th, 2008 11:44 am

    At yung docu ng PBS. My, my. I was looking for that particular one for download, wala. Dapat pala, habang ipinalalabas ay tatawag ka sa PBS para maka-order. This docu is amazing. This guy is truly REVOLUTIONARY. I even have his very early recordings, the one where he was introduced by JOHNNY CASH in his concert. He looked about 17-18 years old dito.

    “kasi ang talent ay nararapat ma-develop into “craft” instead na “crap”.

    Señor Don Fermin:

    Tama po. At maidagdag ko lang. Kailangan ding matutuhan ang katagang TECHNIQUE. Kasi, kahi’t sa ano mang disiplina ng art, kung wala ka nito ay CRAP ang labas mo. Hindi po ba, ginoong Salvador na anak sa labas ni Lou Salvador Sr?

    Ahay, naibulgar ko tuloy ang sekreto mo.
    Mea culpa. Mea culpa.

    Belaaaat. Akala nila totoo. Buti na lang hindi na 60s ang readers nitong blog. Kung nagkataon, NANIWALA na agad sila at sasabog sa TABLOID ang: FERMIN SALVADOR, HULING ANAK SA LABAS ng yumaong LOU SALVADOR, SR.

    ;D

24. Fermin Salvador on March 26th, 2008 8:05 am

    Kasingdami rin ng may apelyidong LEE ang SALVADOR sa ibabaw ng Pilipinas (at baka pati sa buong mundo).

    Ang problema, ang kilala ng mga mas nakababata ngayon pag napag-usapan ang showbiz ay si Cristy FERMIN.

25. Jose Mari Lee on March 26th, 2008 12:22 pm

    “Ang problema, ang kilala ng mga mas nakababata ngayon pag napag-usapan ang showbiz ay si Cristy FERMIN.”

    Aray!

    Naalala ko tuloy yung gawa ni Mars Ravelo:
    SI FERMINA ANG KABAYONG DALDALERA.

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