When I set about to do "Where Bold Stars Go To Die", I had many objectives in mind. One objective that I haven't talked about until now is the nature of collaboration I had with Arlan Esmeña, and how I wish it would set an example of how "collaboration" in Philippine comics could be accomplished. I wrote the story, and Arlan provided all the designs and illustrations. Please bear in mind that "designs" and "illustrations" are two different things. Those two are often confused, and the confusion and misunderstanding often lead to artists getting taken advantage of.

"Design" is the act of coming up with the look of the characters and settings. This takes a lot of brainpower and patience to achieve. "Illustration" is the act of drawing those designs.

It is because Arlan was responsible for the designs of the characters and all the settings, I consider him a full co-creator of "Where Bold Stars Go to Die", and not simply a peon which I pay a page rate to draw my story.

Because I consider Arlan a co-creator, I have agreed to give him 50% of all profits made by Bold Stars, and today, I handed over 50% of all money I made from Bold Stars to Arlan's wife. (Arlan passed away in February 2010.)

I believe that to be the nature of collaboration in comics. It’s by no means the only kind of collaboration. It really depends on the creators involved, and how each creator contributes to the creation of the work.

I hope CJC and other komiks writers take this as an example of how a *true* collaboration is done in comics today: Writers and artists share in the creation, in credit, as well as compensation. I make it a point to say this because I just feel utterly bad for all their past “collaborators” who did all the designs and illustrations, and only got a page rate in return. They got none of the credit, and none of the further compensation those properties made and still continue to be made today.

The crowd at Komikon yesterday, right on top of this post, just to give you an idea of how crazy it was. I was taken quite by surprise by the sheer amount of people who showed up. Having gone to this thing for years, I have a fair idea of the amount of people who visit. The mornings are usually rather calm, with things picking up after lunch. But the crowd this time around was intense. From the moment the doors opened in the morning up until the event closed at 7pm, it was this crowded. I saw a lot of new faces, which is great!

Click for larger image.

That photo above represents the stash I got from Komikon. And to think I barely had time to leave my table and go around and buy stuff. These are the only things I managed to get, but this is by no means the entire output of the convention. From the looks of it, I probably got only less than 10% of new komiks being offered on the floor. I wish I could have gotten more, but that’s how it goes, I guess. It may seem like I’m complaining that I can’t break out of my table for long periods of time, but I’m really not. It was great so many came over to buy Elmer and Bold Star and my other stuff for sale, including some original artwork. It was great meeting everyone who came. I just wish I had more opportunity to go and buy stuff. After all, I’m still very much a fan myself.

The Tintin stuff over there are gifts from French journalist Laurent Melikian, who visited the Philippines specifically to attend Komikon. Isn’t that amazing?

With Laurent.

Laurent also brought with him the Prix Asie ACBD 2011 Trophy from my French publisher Editions Ca Et La.

Here are more photos from the event.

The calm before the storm.

The line outside.

Tepai Pascual.

Doc Carlo Jose San Juan taking a break from his medical duties to sell his comic book… about a doctor and a talking duck?

Law Student Teddy Pavon cramming for a test before selling the print version of his webcomic Work in Progress.

Johnny Danganan sells comic books that features Johnny Balbona, a character I created based on him.

Melvin and Joanah Tinio Calingo

Komiks veterans Jun Lofamia and Bert Lopez

Komiks veteran Rico Rival

Yes, I brought my work seat to the con. Got a problem with that? :D

Storm and Beast!

With Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah creator Carlo Vergara

On stage with Komikon organizer/host Sherry Baet Zamar

Hey, Baby! With Ariel Atienza, Tony De Zuniga and Lyndon Gregorio

Heubert Khan Michael, Wilson Tortosa and Edgar Tadeo

With Leinil Francis Yu and Edgar.

GMA 7 Video Coverage:

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

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KOMIKON Coverage Links

Blog Coverage from The Comics Cube
Blog Coverage from NSW Online
Blog Coverage from Inside a Cat’s Mind
Plain Random Blog Coverage
Ika-Siyam Blog Coverage
Carina’s Words Blog Coverage
Mel Casipit’s Blog Coverage
NonSensical Words Blog Coverage Part 1
Nonsensical Words Blog Coverage Part 2 (Photos!)
JB Casacop Blog Coverage
Work in Progress Blog Coverage
Teardrop’s Photo Coverage

So much new KOMIKS coming out at Komikon. Here is but a sampling of Macoy’s site. If anyone out there still thinks Komiks are dead in the Philippines, then they’re just plain STUPID.

Although I’m still promoting Elmer and selling Bold Stars, I do have new stuff coming out. And it’s crazy. It’s the return of Johnny Balbona!

Johnny will be making an appearance in Komikero Komiks Anthology #8, to be sold at Jonas Diego’s table. Oh yeah, here’s a map of the venue itself so you can much more easily find us.

Click for Larger Image

Here’s Ariel Atienza and Lyndon Gregorio, two of the Komikon organizers in a radio appearance yesterday, promoting the event.

Video by Mark Cerbo

As I mentioned, the amount of komiks coming out is INSANE. I wish to buy them all, but of course, I wouldn’t be able to. If I don’t buy your comic book, it’s nothing personal. Keep in mind that there’s only so much I can buy and there are specific things that I really wish to get. I’m really looking forward to Edgar Tadeo’s Jacara Zar, Gio Paredes’ Kalayaan Volume 1 TPB, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s Trese Book 4, Gilbert Monsanto’s new stuff…. and so many more.

I wish I have a bit of time to go around. Since I don’t have a new release, I think I can afford to wander the venue a bit. Yes, I’m really excited for today! See you all there!

More info on Komikon (What, where, when): http://komikon.org

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Hopefully, the comments are working now. If not, you can always leave comments at my Facebook Page here.

Click for Larger Image

Thanks to Komikon for making me a guest this year. That probably means I’ll get to do stuff at the event. I don’t know what that is yet, but I’m ready for anything. National Book Store is a co-presentor this year, and since they published ELMER 2nd Edition, copies can be bought at their booth, which shouldn’t be too far from my table. For my part, I’ll be selling “Where Bold Stars Go To Die”, although admittedly, I only have a few copies left. I’ll be letting go a few original pages from Superior and Ultimate Avengers for a vastly reduced Komikon-only price, for those who have been wanting to buy original comic book art but couldn’t afford to.

I’ll be scampering like mad to finish my short Johnny Balbona story in the next few days which will go into the newest issue of Komikero Komiks Anthology. This is the craziest Johnny Balbona has ever been, and I can’t wait to unleash him. This anthology will be sold at Jonas Diego’s table.

For those who wish to go, the Komikon is going to be held at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig. I really like this venue because it feels like a tiny San Diego Convention Center. It’s large, it’s cool, far easier to access than previous venues, and best of all the comfort rooms are CLEAN. As in utterly CLEAN. Yep, nothing’s too good for my ass.

Click here for instructions how to get there.

I wanted to share this video I came up with back in 2006. A lot has changed since then, but I wanted to present it as is in an effort to remain objective. I wish I could update it and include the numerous other creators I’ve unintentionally left out and all those new creators who have come in since then, but it may take a far longer song than this one to get them all in. Nevertheless, this video still evokes some very strong emotions in me whenever I see it.

Yes, whatever quirks and warts and controversies and dramas Philippine komiks may have, I still just love it to death. See you at Komikon!

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Yes, comments are disabled on this site for now because the commenting system is broken. Damn you, WordPress. In the meantime, you can leave comments at my Facebook page here.

Now that Arlan is gone, I find footage of him more and more valuable. I had forgotten this, and I couldn’t help but shed a tear when I saw it again. This was taken November 18, 2008, only three years ago. And yet in just three years so many things have happened.

When Komikero Ryan Toledo posted this photo up at his Facebook, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. It’s been a while since I saw a “new” old photo of Arlan, and it reminded me of just how much I missed him.

Those of you who bought “Where Bold Stars Go To Die” know Arlan Esmeña as the talented guy who illustrated that comic book. Viewers of my videos at You Tube know Arlan as my frequent sidekick in our “Kwentong Tambay” videos, as well as the anonymous villains in my short films.

When he passed away on February 18, 2010, I realized that I lost not just a friend, but my best friend.

Arlan and I were both Architects, and it is through our local organization of Architects did I meet him. There was one major difference between us. He was a very good Architect and I wasn’t. A true artist, he was able to build houses that were astonishingly unique in both design and color. He would use colors that other Architects would never dare use on a house. He chose colors in conjunction with design elements inspired by the most surprising of motifs: robots, superheroes and chocolate snacks. A quick trip to his blog would demonstrate this as well as exhibit his other extraordinary talents.

As seeming proof of the impact that Arlan’s designs have had, some houses are popping up here in San Pablo have designs clearly inspired by Arlan but are executed by obviously less talented builders.

He was a geek like me, and it is because of that we have found so many things in common.

Arlan also loved singing. Unfortunately, singing didn’t love him back. He was by no means a bad singer. He could carry a tune well enough and that was enough. He sang confidently and he sang because he loved to. He sang at his wedding, and curiously enough, he even sang at his own funeral. Apparently, he had recorded a few of his favorite songs including “One in a Million You” and it was that recording that was played during his wake, and during the procession from the church to the cemetery.

There was something extra special about Arlan, something that he did not talk about with strangers. Some would consider it a gift, but Arlan at one point in his life, considered it a curse. Arlan had a third eye. Not a physical one of course. He could see the dead and other entities. And I believed him because me and Ilyn were there when he learned he had it, and we saw how it had tormented him for many months until he learned to handle it. Once in a while he would be off staring at something, only to tell us later that he saw spirits moving but did not tell us right away knowing it would freak us out. We told him that if he saw anything in our house while he was there, to just keep it to himself. We couldn’t see those things, so in cases like that, ignorance was bliss.

After his father passed away, he saw his father and spoke with him as he gave his final wishes to his family, divulging a few secrets along the way. Arlan could see things and knew certain things. He told me things about me that eventually came true. He didn’t readily open up about such things, but when he did, I bombarded him with questions about the stuff I was curious about. Through Arlan, matters beyond science was no longer a matter of faith or belief. To me it is already a matter of fact. I don’t believe it to be true, I know it to be true.

2008 was the busiest year of Arlan’s life, I could imagine. His Architecture practice was booming and he was getting clients not only from San Pablo but from other parts of the country as well. It was also the time he started visiting us in the house more frequently. He would just visit and hang out. Sometimes he asked if he could work on his architectural plans on one of the tables in our studio. Often times we would make a video. Arlan never completely shook his shyness off in front of the camera even as I kept encouraging him. And yet, he loved making those videos and had fun while we shot them.

I would often not tell him what I will be talking about in your “Kwentong Tambay” videos in an effort to catch him off guard and make him laugh. And he was *always* caught off guard. And I had fun being able to make him laugh.

We had the impression that while he loved his job, Arlan was being stressed out. I could understand that pretty well. I practiced Architecture for several years before I went into comics. It is one of the most stressful jobs out there. Arlan must have loved creating all these terrific designs, but had difficulty dealing with problematic, demanding and unrealistic clients. When he visited us in our house, he would rarely talk about his work and when he did, it was brief and it almost always came with a frown. He came to talk about comics, movies, TV shows, robots, painting, illustrating, and computers.

On the way to Manila to join a Coke Blogger’s event in 2008 (where Arlan and I created a video for a contest), Arlan suddenly asked me if I had a story lying around that he could draw. At that very moment, I was beginning to illustrate “Where Bold Stars Go To Die”, a comics story I wrote back in 2000, which went through several artists unsuccessfully until I decided to do it myself.

I asked him how well he drew girls. He said, yes, I can do that! And at the Blogger’s event an hour or so later, he demonstrated on a small piece of paper just how good he was. I knew he was good, but not *that* good. It turns out he was better than I expected. He harbored dreams of drawing comics you see, and he wished he could for a long time. In fact, he had come up with a 6-page pencilled submission on 11″x17″ and gave me five copies to bring with me to the 1999 San Diego Convention. I passed them around and showed one to my then editor Brian Haberlin. He said he could see the potential in Arlan’s work, but that he needed more practice, specially in the backgrounds.

That’s a page from Arlan’s 1999 comics submission. See if you can spot R2D2 on the dashboard in the last panel.

Looking at the entire submission again now, I can tell how serious he was. I remember asking him back then… what if you get a job out of this? I said, you’re going to have to choose between this and Architecture as both are time intensive jobs and cannot be done full time at the same time. And he said he’d love to do comics. Back in 1999 it was easier to believe him. In 2008 it was far harder to because his Architecture practice was such a success. But here he was asking to draw comics.

Seeing how good he was drawing women (just take a look at THIS and you’ll see for yourself), I gave him “Where Bold Stars Go To Die” to draw. I asked him if he was sure if he wanted to do this particular story as I knew how conservative his background was. He was very religious and he had priests as close friends and a nun for an aunt. But he said yes nevertheless. And so we were off.

He attacked those pages with startling enthusiasm, finishing a few pages right away and went here and showed them eagerly to me. They were pretty good and I thought they would do fine for the book. I lent him a copy of Berni Wrightson’s Frankenstein as well as a copy of Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen and I can tell how blown away he was by those books.

He went promptly back home and redid those pages and they turned out spectacular.

It was while he was drawing “Bold Stars” that he learned that he was sick. He never said the word “cancer”, nobody did, but we all knew exactly what it was. He stopped working actively on his Architecture projects, and concentrated his efforts into drawing our comic book. He had joked that when he learned he was sick, he was suddenly compelled to work faster.

In his Afterword to Bold Stars he wrote:

No hospital bed could stop me from doing it, where I used pillows as a makeshift drawing table. It was truly a worthwhile experience.

It took him exactly a year to finish drawing Bold Stars. He bagan sometime in July 2008, and finished it sometime in July 2009. By this time Arlan had lost all his hair, and his body showed the effects of continuous chemotherapy. And yet I swear, that smile never left his face every time we saw him. He continued to draw and he continued to improve. His development as an artist was nothing short of astonishing. In just a short amount of time his work transformed from this:

Into THIS:

It was as if a creative tap was suddenly opened inside him and it was now furiously gushing out. He wanted more things to draw, and he looked forward eagerly to our next project, which would have been “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby”.

I had began working for Marvel again during this time and my time was suddenly tight. I found less time to write the story, but I assured him that it was coming. I was also working to get a compilation of ELMER out, as well as the Bold Star book, in time for KOMIKON by October 2009.

I wanted to finish the layout of Bold Stars, and letter it, and somehow find the money to print it so Arlan could have the opportunity to experience launching and signing his comic book during one of the biggest comic events in the country. It is here I want to thank my friend Leinil Francis Yu as well as Jamie Bautista of Nautilus Comics and LSA Printing for helping make this possible.

That was me and Arlan signing at the Komikon 2009, talking with a fan. Actually, he’s my brother Noel.

I can’t even begin to say how happy I was that Arlan was able to experience that event. I believed that it was an experience that he will have over and over, but deep in the back of my mind I thought it might be possible that this may be the last event he could attend. It drove me to make sure that Bold Stars came out at that convention, just in case.

By December 2009 it seemed that Arlan was getting much better. He was further pursuing the development of his art, having taken up photography. He was able to attend the 2nd San Pablo Comics Festival as well as join us Komikeros in our monthly meetings later that month. His hair had started to grow back.

Arlan asked at this meeting how the writing of Rodski Patotski was going. I said I hadn’t started yet, but I was thinking of writing a short story for him, in time for the Komikero Anthology. Thinking hard as I looked at Arlan and the things that he had went through, I immediately knew what I was going to write. I wanted to tell the story of two people who, for some reason, have agreed to go out on a date once a week. The guy was dying of cancer, while the girl was depressed and suicidal. I called it “Mitch and Mischa”. I asked Arlan if the storyline was OK with him and he said yes.

I didn’t see Arlan too much in the month that followed, but we did keep in touch online or on the phone or through text (on my wife’s cell). He visited us once in January and I showed him the trailer to the live action movie of Battleship Yamato. He went berserk when he saw it, and so did I. He asked to see it several times, and couldn’t wait to see the actual thing.

By middle of January, we kind of lost touch for a week. No messages, no emails, Facebook updates or texts. I started to sense that something was wrong. Arlan never went for so long without getting in touch back. On January 29 he finally texted back to confirm what we had feared. The tumors had spread to his kidneys and lungs and he was confined at St. Lukes Hospital in Manila.

I visited Arlan on February 6 and although he had a full head of hair, he had difficulty speaking. But once again, he had a smile that never left his lips. He was actually game to do a video, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to bring my camera. I kidded him about hurrying up and getting dressed because we had a signing at Sputnik in Cubao that afternoon. He said “Let’s Go!”, and I could tell he was serious. I had mentioned that the store had run out of copies of “Where Bold Stars To To Die” so I brought 20 copies along with me to deliver to the store. When Arlan heard that, he asked to sign the books. ALL 20 books. And lying there on his hospital bed, attached to an IV and other gadgets, he slowly signed every copy. And when you look at those signatures, you would never know he was sick.

We received an urgent call on February 16, asking us to visit Arlan one more time, in case Arlan wanted to tell us something or for us to say something in return. The time was approaching, we were told, now that the tumors have reached his brain. He had difficulty remembering the names of friends and relatives the night before. I dropped everything and went back to St. Lukes that same day. Arlan could no longer recognize me, or maybe even see me. He could still hear me, I was told. So I held his hand and talked to him, thanking him for everything and assured him that we’ll see each other again.

Arlan’s family brought him home the following day, and on the early morning of February 18, we received the call that Arlan had passed away.

At Arlan’s wake, Mazinger Z, Voltes V and Optimus Prime stood watch over his body.

ELMER will be released both in North America and Europe from two different publishers at the end of 2010.

SLG Publishing (formely Slave Labor Graphics) will be publishing ELMER in North America and other English speaking territories of the world in November 2010.

SLG currently offers the first 30 pages of ELMER for free via downloadable PDF File.

Official SLG Publishing Site
SLG Publishing Facebook Page

Editions Çà Et Là will be publishing a French language edition of ELMER in France and other French speaking territories of the world, also at the end of 2010.

Official Editions Çà Et Là Website
Editions Çà Et Là Facebook Page

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“Where Bold Stars Go To Die” written by me and illustrated by Arlan Esmeña will be adapted as an independent film by Lem Garcellano, fresh from directing “Tin-tin, 15″. We’re at the early stages of production, currently adapting the story into a Tagalog screenplay. More on this soon!

Where Bold Stars Go To Die Info

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Now that’s out of the way, I gotta admit, I just kinda shat in my pants. Holy shit 2010! Where have you been all my life??

It took me a few days to get going again. I hate taking a break because I’m sick. I’d like to take a break because I wanna sit back and relax and enjoy not doing anything, not flat on my back in pain.

There is a bit of good news, for me at least.

Thanks to Charles Tan, Both ELMER and Where Bold Stars Go To Die got reviewed by Andrew Wheeler.

ELMER REVIEW
Where Bold Stars Go To Die Review

Arlan would have loved that review. In fact, I’m sure he does. I miss you, pare.

May 2010 was crazy… it was insane…AND HOT…. and we’ve still got a week to go. But May was good… very good to me. A lot of doors have opened, a lot of new friends made. I hate to see May go, but I’m looking forward to what June has in store.

Also available at my table is “UMLAUTS and ATOM BOMBS” which brings back to print “July 16″, my story about the 1990 earthquake, as well as a brand new short story called “Mitch and Mischa” illustrated by Marivi Hilos-Nepomuceno, who was a regular contributor to GASI’s love story komiks in the 80′s and 90′s.

I’m afraid DVDs of “Three Days” couldn’t make it as burning working DVDs can be a pain with the equipment I have. Next time maybe. But see you all Saturday! I’ll be at the Komikon from 10am to 6pm, or whenever the event closes.

I want to thank the organizers of yesterday’s Renaissance event, all the artists gave their time to do sketches, Leinil Francis Yu, and all the people who came and supported us. It was completely unexpected that the money generated from the sketches, as well as Leinil’s sketchbooks and original artwork, was eventually donated towards the family of Arlan Esmeña. I am deeply touched by the gesture and on behalf of Arlan’s family, I really wish to thank all of you for your effort and generosity. I am not aware of how much Arlan’s hospitalization and treatment, and now funeral arrangement had cost, but I’m certain it must be astronomical. This would definitely help them out a lot. Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart, and and at the very top of my lungs. You’re all AWESEOME, guys!

Arlan’s wake is currently being held at his own home at Maharlika Village here in San Pablo. He will be buried tomorrow, Tuesday, in Dolores, Quezon.

Arlanzandro C. Esmeña
December 8, 1973 – February 18, 2010
http://gerry.alanguilan.com/archives/2370