24 Responses to “The Art of Alex Niño”

1. Rod Samonte on October 11th, 2008 11:21 pm

   Gerry,
   Whoa, hold your horses. Where’d the classic Pinoy style come from? You’ve just coined this phrase, right? It’s always been Golden Age of Pinoy Komiks. And Nino’s style definitely is not Pinoy Classic style, as you call it. Maybe in the 60′s when Nino’s style was still ala Redondo. But he broke away from the Redondo style and developed his own inimitable style that we see now. Actually, I think he’s influenced a few American illustrators too. Frank Miller for one didn’t draw like that early in his career. I actually see shades of Nino in his style, and so does Mignola’s work for Hellboy.
   Rod

2. Gerry Alanguilan on October 11th, 2008 11:29 pm

   Hello Rod! One can make the argument that Alex defined the look of hundreds of Philippine comic books in the late 60′s and early 70′s. He was still following Redondo’s style more closely early in his career, but he was able to employ his personal style to a lot of things he did locally, and he was able to really let loose on the comic books he did for PSG. He influenced many artists, but none of them were really able to match him. Nevertheless, I believe Alex’s art is one of the classic looks of Pinoy komiks because of the many komiks stories that have been published that carried his work.

3. Rod Samonte on October 12th, 2008 3:23 am

   Gerry,
   I was not in the komiks loop in the 60′s and 70′s so I dare not go into any argument about whether Nino defined the look of komiks back then, and I do not know what he did for PSG (what does it stand for?). But this I have to say: Philippine Komiks was defined by only one illustrator, not Coching, not Emil Rodriguez (although both were influential in some respects), and not Nino. Nestor Redondo influenced almost everybody in Komiks in the 60′s as well as the 70′s, and I have not seen any major or at least visible Pinoy artist whose style was actually influenced by Nino. If there is a classic Pinoy style, it is a style that I would call Redondoesque or Redondo style. Rudy Nebres, Vicatan, Rudy Florese, Jun Lofamia, Nestor Malgapo, to name a few who dominated what I’d hesitate to call a Silver Age, were all Redondoesque in style.
   Rod

4. Rod Samonte on October 12th, 2008 10:10 am

   Gerry,
   You just reminded me to go the local comics shop here to buy those Nino books. Seems they don’t have The Art of Alex Nino (maybe Auad is not distributing, only selling it directly), but I was able to get the very last copy (it’s sold out, the salesgirl gave me the copy she was keeping for herself). I haven’t been to the comics store in while and I’ve missed a lot of issues I would have like to get. For example, I don’t have any of the Leinil Yu illustrated Secret Invasion, and it’s sold out. Anyway, we had quite some discussion on Nino’s Dead Ahead when you featured it here, that the colors used, such as purple were too sweet, etc. Well, the actual issue is different from that you reproduced here. No purples or pinks, they’re actually browns now and looks much better. Hmmm, I wonder if the colorist was reading our discussion. And you’re right, this book is vintage Nino.
   Rod

5. auggie on October 12th, 2008 11:26 am

   Rod,

   The reason why Redondo was the palpable persuasive influence during the 50s-60s, was because madali siyang kopyahin, vis-a vis, kila Coching, Alcala, Torres, Rodriguez, Jodloman. In fact, I was dreaming too of becoming another Redondo clone during that time. Ang dami kong sinirang cartolina at gallons of India Ink, perfecting his brush strokes, but I realized, I’ll never become another Redondo. Ika ng ni Dirty Harry, ng San Francisco Police: MAN HAS GOTTA KNOW HIS LIMITATIONS.

   As for Nino, nagwala talaga siya ng husto ng bigyan siya ng CARTE BLANCHE ni BILL DUBAY sa 1984, isang publication ng WARREN Publishing, wherein he realized his full potentials. Naging cult hero siya sa Warren and had his legions of fans. Kada issue noon ng 1984, he raised the bar, at parang china-challenge niya ang ibang illustrator doon ng KAYA NIYO BA ITO ? puro matitinik din ang mga kasabayan niyan doon: RICH CORBEN, FRANK THORNE, RUSS HEATH, ESTEBAN MAROTO, JOSE ORTIZ, LUIS BERMEJO, GIMENEZ, etc…one-upmanship ang laro niya noon sa 1984.

   As for his recent work ,what can i say ? THE OLD IS NEW AGAIN !

6. Rod Samonte on October 12th, 2008 12:41 pm

   Auggie,
   Kung tinabi mo ang mga kartolina may mga ala-Redondo illustrations mo patingin naman. Sarap nga mag-hagod sa kartolina ng Chinese brush. Parehong-pareho tayo na trying to perfect that brush stroke, and you know what I am a whiz at it, hehehe. Kahit with this 67 year old fingers kaya ko pa rin siguro yung Redondong hagod, hehehe. Actually, I haven’t held a brush in a long time. Puro sa computer ang mga trabaho ko ngayon.
   Lintek nga ang labanan sa Warren noon. Spanish versus Pinoy vs American: Maroto-Bermejo-Ortiz vs Nino-Nebres-Alcala vs Corben-Thorne-Wrightson. Lahat matitinik. Pero, I think kung mayroon mang dapat magsabi ng KAYA NYO BA ITO? or HERE, TOP THIS!, it has to be Alcala with VOLTAR. I think even Bernie Wrightson, the acknowledged king of horror illustrators at that time, picked up something from Alcala when he started illustrating with linework that looked like Alcala.
   Rod

7. Rod Samonte on October 12th, 2008 2:03 pm

   sinirang cartolina at gallons of India Ink,

   Auggie,
   Diyata’t gallons of India Ink ang naubos mo. Would you believe I still have the bottle of india ink I was using then. Dinadagdagan ko lang ng tubig, ayos na, hehehe. Hindi ba technique nila yun para lalong dumulas ang pahid?
   Rod

8. Ferres on October 12th, 2008 5:53 pm

   PSG: Presidential Security Group.

9. auggie on October 12th, 2008 6:50 pm

   Rod,

   Oo, distilled water, kaya kulay gray na. Pero pagdating naman sa reproduction, itim din naman yun eh. Matagal na rin akong hindi nakakahawak ng brush, puro colored pencils na lang pag nagpapractice.
   As for Alcala, kung minsan mi daya ang illustrations niya sa VOLTAR, diyan sa US. Gumagamit siya ng LINEN PAPER, at shini=shade niya ng charcoal pencils, hindi kaparis ni Nino lahat brush strokes talaga.

   BTW, kaklase mo ba si JUSTIN ” TINY” NUYDA ? na feature siya sa Manila Times recently, because of his butterfly collection. Mga kasabayan yata ni Boy Soriano ito ?

10. Rod Samonte on October 12th, 2008 10:56 pm

    Auggie,
    Si Nino palagay ko hindi purong brush strokes ang gamit niya. Sa tingin ko’y gumagamit siya ng pen o kaya Pentel/Felt pen, tapos brush. Kasi ma-linya ang trabaho niya. Pero hindi naman daya ito. The artist shoud experiment on different techniques, diba? Si Jessie Santos if I remember right was the first one to use charcoal pencil in komiks, in his DI Trece. Mayroong iba gumagamit ng ink wash. Tony Caravana was good at wash drawing, actually better than Redondo. And Teny Henson and Zuniga were using stick-on textures na bagay naman sa mga dibuho nila.

    Barkada ko si Tiny Nuyda, he’s a painter, and he’s also the Philippines foremost butterfly expert and collector. However, he’s much younger than me, siguro by five years, kaya hindi ko naging ka-klase.

    Ferres,
    Thanks.
    Rod

11. auggie on October 12th, 2008 11:18 pm

    Rod,

    Oo nga hindi naman talaga daya, but more of experimenting with different effects and for more expediency di ba ? lalo na kung mi deadline, eh mas mabilis gamitin ang charcoal pencils.
    Si Zuniga mahilig gumamit ng mga ZIPATONE at LETRASET noon, pero nauna yata si ALCALA sa mga ZIPATONES. I noticed that doon sa mga NAVAL WARFARE NON-FICTION, stories niya sa ESPESYAL KOMIKS gaya ng YAMATO, HMS WARSPITE, GRAF SPEE, BISMARCK, PT 109,etc. and later on doon sa Redondo Komix, at CRAF Klasix. Magaling gumamit si Alcala ng Zipatones for effects

12. auggie on October 12th, 2008 11:25 pm

    Rod,

    PSG ba kamo ? ang alam kong PSG noon eh komiks publications ni PABLO S. GOMEZ, wherein he corraled most of former ACE publications komiks artists, including Alcala….

13. Jose Mari Lee on October 13th, 2008 12:16 am

    Sa nakita ko in the 70s, masasabing unique ang gawa ni Niño. I was a fan of the guy. Kaya lang, kakaunti ang nag-attempt na gumaya kay Niño noon kasi nga, hindi magaganda ang mga figura niya. Can you imagine if Niño drew say, PSG’s (PSG is PABLO SALONGA GOMEZ) romantic serial BANDANA? Hindi magiging convincing. And let’s face it. Ang local komiks natin noon ay masyadong ROMANTICIZED. The women should look very beautiful and curvaceous and the men should be dashing and must have that Knigt in a shining armor attributes.

    Si Niño ay bagay sa mga weird tales, some action period pieces, at saka horror. Kung ikaw ay isang baguhan, hindi mo ililimit ang iyong drawings sa mga specialized lang na genre. You won’t survive (materially, I mean) kung ganito lang ang iguguhit mo. Kaya nga mas maraming gumaya kay Redondo, kasi ang mga characters niya ay mga normal human beings who, while they look like Gods and Goddesses, the images fitted the stories that the readers loved. Hence, Niño, while very good, not very many people copied him. Tony Zuñiga is obe artist that gazillions of newcomers also copied. I can name at least 50 illstrators who really became very good on their onw styles later, thanks to Zuñiga.

    Everytime I would recall our glorious komiks days, there are two artists who always come to my mind: Niño and Vir Aguire. Niño for his unique style, and Vir Aguirre for his wonderful story-telling, very beautiful figures, and a unique INKING that many young artists copied…but…FAILED… miserably. Isa lang ang nag-stick sa pagkopya kay Aguirre, and that was ROD SANTIAGO, but his version was a TREMENDOUSLY DISMAL copycat that wasn’t even close. But since in the beginning, he did copy Aguirre by lifting EXACTLY like what Aguirre had drawn, it was too obvious to see that he was trying very hard to reproduced Aguirre’s work (this thing amazed me as well. Walang mga nagdedemandang artists noon na kinokopya ng mga baguhan. Only to show you how generous and selfless our komiks artists in those days). If Aguirre did not die very young, only God knows what sort of evolution his drawings would have turned into later.

    And ALFREDO ALCALA? Boy, some issues of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (the Big Comicoook), were unbelieveably MASTERFUL that even now, without seeing them for years, I still can visualize them inside my head. Yes, they were that good and unforgettable.

14. kc cordero on October 13th, 2008 12:32 am

    auggie,
    yup, PSG stands for pablo s. gomez. ferres’ just trying to add humor to the discussion, hehe.

15. Robby Villabona on October 13th, 2008 12:35 am

    Yeah, I hardly think of Pinoy style when I see Alex Nino’s art. His style is a style of his own, and it just so happens he’s Filipino. So I’d rather call his style classic Alex Nino style, than classic Pinoy style. Redondo is the unmistakable influence of the classic Pinoy style.

16. Rod Samonte on October 13th, 2008 4:01 am

    JM,
    I think I’ve seen Vir Aguirre’s work, but not really familiar with him. Must be during that time my interest had shifted elsewhere in art. Sayang at yumao kaagad. Another artist who’s work was really, really good was Tuning Ocampo who worked for Miranda, and like Vir he died young. Although he was Redondo-influence too, his style was already ahead of Redondo, in fact I would be seeing Redondo do the same, much later on in his Redondo Komiks.

    Pablo S. Gomez pala yung PSG. Hahaha, naniwala naman ako kay Ferres and I was wondering what Nino was doing with politics.

    Tama ka sa sinabi mo kay Nino, style niya bagay talaga sa weird tales, and horror, and also science-fiction. I know at least one artist who copied Zuniga and did it well, the recently deceased Manvir Soriano. He was a friend at kapitbahay ko pa nun sa Balik-balik. Actually copying a favorite artist was like the usual MO during that time, but not only then but also now. We’ve seen Leinil Yu for example influenced by Whilce Portacio, and J. Campbell-Scott drawing like Jim Lee, and I think both these younger artists have equaled if not surpassed their mentor’s achievements. The big difference during our time in the 60′s and 70′s was that the mentor was so good, it was impossible to surpass them. Javinal never could draw like Coching for example, despite copying him frame by frame. There’s a certain stiffness to Javinal’s work that separates him from Coching. And so with Caravana vs Redondo, although in some aspects Caravana was really good specially in the aforementioned wash technique. However, as far as copying is concerned even the great Coching copied Alex Raymond. I’ve seen an exact copy of a Rip Kirby frame used in Berdugo by Coching. Well, Coching has assistants, could it be one of his assistants copied the frame without his knowledge? Alex Raymond of course influenced a whole generation of American artist that came after him: Mac Raboy, Austin Briggs, Frank Frazetta, Wally Wood, and the still very visible Al Williamson. Kaya, there’s really no shame in copying your favorite artist.

    Auggie,
    Zipatone!!! That’s the word I was trying to remember. Hindi ko matandaan. Yes, Zuniga used a lot of Zipatones. I’ve seen Alcala’s original of Conan, and they’re really quite amazing. He uses techniques like scratching out the paper (the paper is not scratchboard), until the white rips out and we’ve got pouring rain. And you can see Jesse Santos’ DI Trece right here in Komikero Museum of his pencil drawings on linen. The trouble with charcoal is it’s dirty to use.
    Rod

17. John on October 13th, 2008 5:43 am

    I have to get this book, soon! I’ve just spent a lot of money on some needed supplies, and some computer stuff! :(

    I love Nino’s work…always have, he has many styles…all of them interested in many ways, and he’s a master of them all. I think he’s my favorite Pinoy Komik artist…but there are some many greats, it’s tuff to choose!

    Sorry to hear you were sick for awhile, Gerry. Glad you’re better now.

    Ingat!

18. auggie on October 13th, 2008 9:21 am

    JM,

    You are right about Vir Aguirre. He was an original. He was the only local artist I know that can draw the most erotic female you could imagine bar none. But strangely enough, I don’t remember him strutting his stuff at ACE or CRAF publishing….

    Rod,

    Nag-suicide yata si Tunying Ocampo. I think had a bipolar sickness coupled with marital woes. Most likely, PANIGBUGHO ang motibo ng murder- suicide na yun. He shot his wife and then shot himself. Sa isang maliit na news release ko lang nabasa ito many decades ago. Sayang, magaling pa naman si Tunying. MARKADO, at KID WAKADOO ang na re-remember ko sa kanya sa Kenkoy Komiks.

19. Jose Mari Lee on October 13th, 2008 11:22 am

    Auggie,

    Vir Aguirre’s drawings came out after CRAFT, that’s why. He did Mars Ravelo’s GORO (ang kapreng mahiyain)- an instant smash hit, and Ravelo’s TAONG TUOD in GASI. But Miranda & Sons paid him the big bucks to team-up with PSG in several series for LAGIM KOMIKS. In fact, LAGIM became so popular because of Aguirre’s drawings of PSG’s best selling seriels such as SIDRA & DIVINA. That’s when Aguirre became an exclusive Miranda artist.

    The most unfair rumors that was extremely unfair was: that it was Mars Ravelo who “killed” Aguirre for pushing the artist too much. It was all a lie. Ravelo wasn’t a heartless person. In fact he had too much heart for komikeros. Aguirre, in fact, practically drunk himself to death. It was a twice told tale when another very talented advertizing artist followed suit a few years later, in the personage of ALEX NGO. He was at the height of his career at 29 when he passed away. Aguirre was 31 or 33 when he died.

20. auggie on October 13th, 2008 2:36 pm

    JM,

    Yes, I remember TAONG TUOD. Para palang si Nestor Leonidez si Vir, exclusive din sa Miranda. About ALEX NGO, yes, I also remember his various magazine illustrations, particularly in the FREE PRESS. Ala Bob Peak ang tikada niya. He also did movie ads if I remember correctly. Did he also drunk himself to death pareho ni Aguirre ?

21. Jose Mari Lee on October 13th, 2008 11:30 pm

    Yes. he did many movie ads. And yes, he even drunk himself to death much faster than Aguirre.

22. Aaron on October 15th, 2008 7:50 pm

    Oh wow! I should definitely pick up this book. I don’t have any books that have classic Filipino artist. This should inspire me more! It’s pretty expensive but I think it’s worth it!

23. adam! on October 17th, 2008 10:35 am

    available ba yan dito? sana, sana. matagal ko nang minamata yan, e.

24. Gerry Alanguilan on October 17th, 2008 8:36 pm

    Adam, I think pwede syang orderin either sa Druid’s Keep or Comic Odyssey. Gusto mo sabihin ko? Baka kasi di nila napansin. Di ko kasi alam kung lumabas ito sa Previews e.