Feb

7

Thoughts On The Komiks Congress#1

Filed Under Philippine Comics | 16 Comments

DUMAGIT by Francisco V. CochingI’m excited at any and all attempts at serious and sincere efforts to revive the komiks industry, and the upcoming Komiks Congress seems to be more serious than most.

The congress is spearheaded by notable people from the old komiks industry specially Joe Lad Santos and Panday and Bakekang creator Carlo J. Caparas. It has been admitted that it’s a congress that’s concentrating on putting together people mostly from the old industry, with representatives from the younger generation in the hopes of finding a way to revive a once popular komiks medium.

It’s a time of great excitement for me, but at the same time, great concern. I have hopes that the opinion expressed by a few individuals from the old industry questioning the legitimacy the new industry of comics developed by the younger generation is not shared by all.

To dismiss or ignore what young comics writers and artists have accomplished in the last 15 years, creating a new comics industry amidst the dying throes of an old and much greater one, in an economy that is struggling and unstable, would be terribly unwise. Clearly, the fact that comics are created and read in a time when no serious money can be made in comics can be a case study if one wishes to understand ways of how comics can survive and persist in an environment where it shouldn’t.

We have a lot to learn from our old masters and professionals, but I really believe that there are things we can teach them as well. The world of comics has changed a lot in the last two decades, and we have been at the forefront of it.

For a revival of komiks in a wide scale to happen, there are many practices in the old industry that has to be stricken out of the books. I sincerely hope that the people involved don’t believe that they can just continue what they have done before as if nothing happened.

I have made some suggestions that I hope would get passed on to the congress via Randy Valiente and John Becaro, representatives of our younger generation that I hope could at least get heard.

FRED ALCANTARA1. Comics is An Art and Deserves To Be Respected

Komiks, for the most part during it’s 60 year history, was treated as disposable entertainment. Although highly regarded and respected in the 50’s and 60’s, the reputation of komiks took a drastic downturn during the 70’s with the rise of “BOMBA” komiks, comic books that were pornographic in nature.

“Bomba” komiks became so prevalent that all komiks suffered condemnation.

I also believed that with the departure of many of our most talented artists from Philippine comics during the early 70’s, the quality of komiks in general started to decline. The declaration of Martial Law in 1972 drove even more artists into either retirement (as was the case with Francisco V. Coching) or abroad.

Slowly but surely, komiks was becoming a medium that was becoming less than respectable. Going to school during grade school and high school, I encountered many teachers who discouraged us from reading komiks. Only a few years ago, some of my friends could not get ISBNs for their comic books because there were people at the Philippine National Library who believed komiks had “no research value”. Isn’t it such a local cliche that komiks, as soon as they are read, are now only good enough to wrap fish with at the market?

I can’t help but believe that many who have worked in komiks are themselves responsible for propagating this perception by creating substandard, uninspired and derivative work and by maintaining a strong belief that komiks cannot aspire to more than simple and cheap entertainment for the masses. As to the latter, it’s difficult to place blame, as these creatives have known only how to work within certain parameters, and it has never been possible to work beyond those parameters for most of their professional lives. The idea of uplifting comics, of pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the medium, and tackling important and substantial subject matters are things I have no doubt they would have pursued, if only they were aware that it could be done.

Nestor Redondo's MI ULTIMO ADIOSMy contemporaries and I are here to offer this idea, that these old parameters can be broken. We believe in the idea that comics can be so much more than cheap entertainment and can be vehicles in which important issues and stories can be told. We believe that komiks is an art, and we believe it capable of being literature. For what is comics but a medium in which stories are told? A medium no different than books and films. If we can respect books and films, then komiks should be worthy of that respect as well.

But we will NOT get that respect by continuing to create only comics that are substandard, badly drawn, badly written and cheaply produced. To believe that those are the kinds of komiks that the Filipino masses will patronize and appreciate is an insult to your fellow Filipinos.

It has been pointed out that our people, both readers and creators, should be made aware of the immensely ground breaking work in comics in the United States that proved comics can be art, like Maus, Watchmen, and recently, Fun Home and American Born Chinese. Awareness to those books is good, but I think even in America, those books are unique.

Here in the Philippines, it would probably be too much to look for at this point in time. I think that will come eventually, but for the moment, simple respect for komiks as something that is not cheap and disposable is what I’m looking for. That comics be something that is respected, cherished and take care of, as much as books are.

Filipino Komiks #1, published by Rising Star in October 2006 is a case in point. I recognize FK #1 as the very first serious attempt in recent years to revive komiks for the masses on a national scale. Amidst all the talk of what should and what should not be done to revive Philippine komiks, amidst all the heated opinions being thrown left and right, Rising Star went ahead and did what they believe to be their idea of how to do just that. It’s a perfect example of actions speaking much louder than words.

FILIPINO KOMIKS #1Based on conversations with FK’s founder and editorial director KC Cordero, it seems that the first issue was surprisingly successful, selling out quickly in the provinces. For a komiks that had a 100 peso price tag, that was indeed surprising. There has been lots of talk that comics for the masses should be cheap, as cheap as 10-15 pesos because that is what the the majority of Filipinos can afford. I disagree. If the majority of Filipinos can afford loads for their expensive cellphones, blowing peso after peso on trivial and unimportant text messages*, if they can blow hundreds of pesos a week on drink and cigarettes and pirated CDs and DVDs, they can afford a well done, well crafted 100 peso comic book. And the success of FK #1 seems to bear that out.

If this komiks sold very well, who else bought them but these same Filipinos many believed could not afford them?

This is not to say that FK #1 is the standard that should be followed. I must point out that although it is a vast improvement from the typical komiks published from the 90’s to the early 2000s, there are still many ways that this comic book can be improved. The art is much better overall, and there are some artists who are doing far better work in this book than what they did previously. But I can definitely say that they are going in the right direction.

Yes, it is not cheap, but that in itself has it’s own advantages. They would be in a position to better pay their writers and artists, who in turn would turn in much better work, resulting in a much better comic book.

The fact that it is not cheap would force the buyers into taking better care of it. I can bet you nobody is going to be using this comic book to wrap fish in the market.

To Be Continued.

*Let’s be honest. For every 1000 texts you make with your cellphone, how many of that, on the average, constitute messages that are truly important and essential? So important and essential that you need to carry it around 24 hours a day, allowing yourself to be contacted immediately anywhere you are at anytime?

Comments

16 Responses to “Thoughts On The Komiks Congress#1”

  1. Josel Nicolas on February 7th, 2007 1:51 am

    Sana naman hindi nga maliitin ang efforts ng indie community.

  2. ComicBookNewsWire.com » Blog Archive » Comics Blogs: Thoughts On The Komiks Congress#1 on February 7th, 2007 2:11 am

    [...] Original post by Tom McLean and software by Elliott Back [...]

  3. Fermin Salvador on February 7th, 2007 11:12 am

    Most of the issues you raised are also some of my concerns about the prospects of the komiks “congress”. Let’s face it, it was conspired by… err… spearheaded by a traditional “komiks promoter” who happened to be in a mid-level position in the Arroyo government right now and a traditional entrepreneur. The supposed reps and advocates of the present komiks scenario and realities that actively participate in the preparation for the “congress” seemed to be more awe-struck by “name” or by dealing with former bosses than the prospects of komiks in general. The stubborn enthusiasm to revive the komiks industry, an inspiring story in itself, is owed mainly to indie komikeros who are keeping the torch alive. Beyond the usual award-giving ceremonies and the media brouhaha (obviously counted as accomplishments of the present regime) some things need to be asserted, too.

  4. johnbecaro on February 7th, 2007 12:34 pm

    (“The supposed reps and advocates of the present komiks scenario and realities that actively participate in the preparation for the “congress” seemed to be more awe-struck by “name” or by dealing with former bosses than the prospects of komiks in general.”)

    —you already judged us. It’s not that easy bringing all the voices and interest of everyone in this so called Komiks Industry. This is not politics.

    I for one, don’t care on that “names” and “former bosses”..to be exact, I care about the “long- term results” that the Congress may bring to us all.I want to be involved because of that and not because of self interest.

    If Komiks Congress is a “potential key” for a total local Komiks Revival, then there is no harm trying supporting it, anyway, all of us in the long run, will benefit from this.

    Komiks Congress is the first of its kind and will be the bases of the next generation to further study and act on the relevance of our local Komiks to our society.

    Regardless of who will facilitate, Let us all be aware that Komiks Congress is still on its way
    for the start of a new era of perceptions of our local komiks. And it relies on us.

    We are not yet in the Congress, but it seems there are still some obstacles in our mind for us not to deliver this important event.

    johnbecaro

  5. Gerry Alanguilan on February 7th, 2007 12:56 pm

    Thanks for the responses, Josel, John and Fermin. I think it would be more beneficial to pursue this discussion at the Philippine Komiks Message Board where everyone has the opportunity to listen to all our points and participate. We already have a designated topic for it there which can be found at the link below:
    http://tinyurl.com/2o95eq

    Much of what I have said here is paraphrased from what I said over there, so if anyone wishes to continue discussion please head on to the link above.

    Your understanding is much appreciated!

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