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Jul

12

Flashpoint, January 1994

Filed Under Comics Artists, Filipino Artists, Philippine Comics | 12 Comments

The one that really started it all. I’m not certain how many issues came out, but the the image above represents the covers to the first 4 issues, 3 of which interlocks with one another. The first issue is the one on the upper right, and I assume that issue #5, if it had come out, would have gone on that spot.

When this came out, we in the Lakan group were taken quite by surprise. We had been striving to be the first independent title locally produced, and this one came out like lightning from the blue. We, of course, just had to check it out.

In many ways, Flashpoint was designed to be different from anything else coming out at the time, “anything else” meant both foreign comics and local komiks, by which time was already already on a rapid decline. Flashpoint looked nothing like any of them. The cover is a case in point. Just a metallic symbol on black background. Nothing else. No title, no credits, no price tag. Plus, it carried with it a disclaimer “Suggested for Mature Readers” in the back. Reading through all these comics, one realizes that they were written by extremely intelligent people who had very lofty ideals about the art of comics.

The writing on the third issue so impressed me that I remember gushing like a little girl when I met the writer, David Hontiveros, several months later.

The artwork for most of the series was a very young Carlo Vergara, who displayed a lot of potential, in spite of the obvious influence Image influence on many of the action scenes in the first issue. The development of Carlo’s art between the first and second issue was quite remarkable in that one can already see the makings of a highly original artist who would one day create Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah.

In issue #3 it was weird seeing Carlo do a riff on Frank Miller’s Sin City, a fact that they do come clean with on the letters page of issue #4. What made this issue stand out to me was not only David Hontiveros’ writing, but the art of Mike Adrao who draws much of the issue, sandwiched between Carlo’s Sin City influenced framework. Mike Adrao’s art is dark and disturbing and in spite of the crudeness of the art, you can tell that a time will come that Mike’s art could knock everybody else’s flat. We considered Mike to be one of “those” artists who were really good, the kind of artist that other felt threatened by, the kind of artist who’s work you looked forward to see regardless.

I don’t know where Mike is now, or if he ever drew more comics. The last thing I remember him doing was a cover for Lakan (or did he?), but like anything that had anything to do with Lakan, nothing ever came out.

Carlo and Mike were, of course, not the only artists involved. Here’s a breakdown of the talents who were responsible for producing this comic book:

Writers:
Alexander E. Santos, David Hontiveros – Plot
David Hontiveros – Script

Artists:
Carlo Vergara (also letters, assistant colors, editorial)
Joey Gohu (colors)
Baron Vergara (colors)
Johnson Morco (cover art)
Alexander E. Santos
Mike Adrao
Mariano Ching
L.A. Nichols

Conceptual Consultants:
Marc Ambrosio
Ferdie Ramos
Marcus

With special thanks to Kent Bellosillo and Patrick Wu

Flashpoint was published by Straight Lines, International, Inc.

I still consider Flashpoint to be quite an achievement in that time it came out. It was a risk, not only for the creators who were striving to create such a mature piece of work in an environment no one was sure would take it, but for the publisher as well.

I’m very glad that some of the people who worked here, specially Carlo Vergara, found further success in comics later, with David Hontiveros furthering his writing not only for various publications, but in a series of books he is currently doing with Visprint.

Comments

12 Responses to “Flashpoint, January 1994”

  1. Ed on July 12th, 2008 11:04 pm

    Cover pa lang intriguing na! Too bad di ko afford makabili ng maraming komiks dati. Hanggang tingin na lang ako noon. :P

  2. Rod Samonte on July 12th, 2008 11:51 pm

    Gerry,
    I mentioned in your previous post that I got a copy of Siglo. This has excellent illustrations by Carlo Vergara, and he did the book layout too. I actually liked your San Dig illustrations, bold, spontaneous lines, excellent layout, maybe a couple of frames were too crude but still overall excellent. Reminds me of the early work of Carmine Infantino. It seems you just let go, did your layout and lines without anything holding you back, no inhibitions. Frankly, I am surprised, well, it’s of course closer to your Wasted style, but I would not have known it was done by an Architect by the spontaneous style. Your present style show more of your architectural background: you employ the one-point perspective in many of your illustrations, the Timawa spread for example and expecially much of Humanis Rex. I am not disparaging architects of course, in fact your architectural background has served you well in many of your illustrations.
    Rod

  3. Gerry Alanguilan on July 13th, 2008 12:26 am

    Actually Ed, di rin ako nakabili ng Flashpoint noon. Nabili ko ang mga ito many many years later sa Expressions. Sampung piso lang ang isa. :D

  4. Carver on July 13th, 2008 3:56 am

    Heheh…. nahiya ako bigla. :)

    But thanks for sharing this, Gerry, as well as your reactions to it.

    Those were the days. :)

  5. gilbert monsanto on July 13th, 2008 3:56 am

    Yan nga ang nagsimula ng lahat. When we bought the first issue. Sabi namin, o bakit sila nakagawa, samantalang tayong gumagawa na sa GASI di makagawa. Kaya nabuo ang Exodus hehe. So, salamat dito.

    Pero para sa akin, mas nagsimula ang lahat dahil sa nakilala namin ang gumawa ng SIGAW SAKLOLO! Kaya kami gumawa ng ashcan para maguage ang lakas ng komiks ay dahil kay Dino Ignacio. Ifeature mo siya Gerry dito!

  6. Gerry Alanguilan on July 13th, 2008 8:38 am

    Gilbert… itong SIGAW SAKLOLO nga ang pinakaunang “indie” na nakita ko. Sabi ko, teka zerox lang ito a… pero comics sya! Ito rin nagbigay sa akin ng idea na ilabas sa ganitong format ang Wasted.

    Unfortunately, di ako nakakuha ng kopya kahit isa.

  7. Gerry Alanguilan on July 13th, 2008 11:11 am

    Hello Rod!

    The deadline was short and I just had bought a really nice thick pen that had a very flexible point. So I used it like a brush. I loved it! I’m thinking of doing another story one day where I will use nothing but that kind of pen, or in the absence of it, a brush.

    That San Dig story was actually translated and reprinted in Q Strip, a comics magazine published in Croatia. :D

    I kind of like that story because it’s kind of based on a true story. I have to tell you that the legend is true, as far as my dad tells me. But I don’t think we had a makapili ancestor. I just put it in there.

    I wrote about it earlier here:
    http://alanguilan.com/sanpablo/2007/02/im-in-croatian-read-or-die.html

  8. Rod Samonte on July 13th, 2008 12:32 pm

    Gerry,
    Oh yes, I remember this one now. Nagustohan ko nga ito the first time I saw it, especially with the first page. Good story, well illustrated with simple, minimal lines, the solids are well placed and balanced, the thick ragged border works to put all the elements together, no tangents, as BSW puts it, to worry about… no wait you do have a tangent in the second frame, the frame around the caption, hitting the black fence might look better if it overlapped a bit, hehehe, but I wouldn’t worry it about too much.
    Rod

  9. Jon on July 14th, 2008 7:45 am

    Was able to buy the whole series when it was sold on sale (20 pesos each) at a Expressions branch at Sta. Lucia. Sayang nga at di natapos yung series.

  10. Budjette on July 14th, 2008 7:07 pm

    An excerpt from Cirilo F. Bautista’s Philippine Panorama column BREAKING SIGNS
    January 9, 1994

    “Yuson, Francia, and Flashpoint: Good Readings for the New Year”

    Three important literary works which came out at the tail-end of 1993 merit serious attention for they underscore certain benevolent developments. They signal that, in an economically deprived country like ours, good writing is not a contradiction in terms; and that slowly but steadily, Filipino writers continue to gain audience in America. At the very least, these works reflect the tenacity and configuration of the Filipino imagination.

    [The article then proceeds to discuss Alfred A. Yuson's "Trading in Mermaids" from Anvil Press and "Brown River, White Ocean" from Rutgers University Press, an anthology of Philippine literature in English, edited by Luis Francia. Finally, Bautista talks about "Flashpoint."]

    “Flashpoint” is the title of a comics magazine (Straight Lines International) specializing in science-fiction. The first issue is a high-gloss, finely crafted story entitled “Faith’s Fools.” The plot is by Alexander Santos and David Hontiveros; script by David Hontiveros; art work by Carlos Vergara; color rendition by Joey Gohu and Baron Vergara; and the cover by Johnson Morco. The story, about a sense-shattering secret involving two worlds in parallel dimension and an invasion that will alter the realities of existence, is finely drawn in full colors. The whole issue is a feast for the eyes, and will undoubtedly be a collector’s item. This work b senior college students of De La Salle University serves to establish the needed foundation for the realization of a true science-fiction genre in the country.

    http://komix101.blogspot.com/2002/04/excerpt-from-cirilo-f.html

  11. Philip Tan on July 15th, 2008 2:53 pm

    Wow.. I remember Flashpoint also… and like a lot of you guys.. I never got money to buy them back then XD….

    P

  12. Myke08 on July 16th, 2008 4:19 pm

    Yup! Nakabili din ako nito sa Expression sa Ever Grand Central (ayus ang mga mall na ito, free advertising). Actually, meron pa daw sa Isetan recto nito, pro ayaw ko makipagsapalaran sa lugar na yun.

    P20 pesos each ko din sya nabili. Kaso ,may humiram at hindi na naibalik. Problema pa nun, nalimutan ko na kung sino nanghiram.