Long before Nestor Redondo embarked on his tabloid sized adaptation of the Bible for DC comics in 1975, he worked on a much more massive Bible adaptation, published through his own publishing company, Redondo Komiks in 1968. The adaptation was serialized on a one every two week basis, 4-5 pages each installment, on the pages of Superyor Komiks. The run I have in my possession was handed down to me by my father in law, Korak and Tarzan artist Rudy Florese, who was able to photocopy and compile the adaptation. I don’t know how long exactly the series ran, but the last installment in this collection is from April 1971, depicting a scene in Exodus where Moses’ staff turns into a snake. That’s 4 years worth of bi-weekly strips so it’s quite a lot.

Click for Larger Image

For a gallery of art from this collection, click on this public Facebook album.

I apologize for the image quality. As I had mentioned, these were scanned from photocopies, photocopied during a time when photocopying was just coming into use. This is a piece of work, I believe, that needs to be collected and republished into one volume. Komikero Publishing will be willing to scan and restore the pages in this adaptation if we would be able to find (perhaps borrow) the original komiks run so we can scan it. We would certainly devote as much care and attention to it as we did the restoration of Francisco V. Coching’s El Indio. We would also endeavor to get in touch with Nestor Redondo’s family to acquire permission to do so.

Since this is a Bible adaptation, I believe we won’t have a problem finding a suitable publisher for it. If you can help, please do get in touch. You can email us at gerryalanguilan at yahoo dot com.

I’ve been tagged endlessly on Facebook by concerned people who perhaps wanted to hear my side of the story. It’s very hard to argue the facts presented in the article because they’re pretty much true. The old big companies have gone. The once ubiquitous komiks at the newsstands have disappeared. The great artists went off to America to work for US Comics. Other media have definitely made an impact on comics readership. All of that is true.

However, the article does not present all the facts. And I find it frustrating that grim conclusions about the state of Philippine comics can be made without all the facts at hand, and then presented to an International audience. Such shoddy research is completely unbecoming of someone writing for the Agence France-Presse, no less, and has given all the hardworking comics creators in the country no great service.

I think the problem people are having is that of a skewed point of view. Look, the old, great Philippine komiks industry, you know the one with Atlas and GASI and PSG and REX and all those once great comics companies, well it’s DEAD. It’s GONE. Not only is that industry dead, that whole way of life of getting your comics at sidewalks is dead. The sooner you get to grips with that, the better. I shed buckets of tears for it when I held the last copies of Pilipino Komiks, Tagalog Klasiks and Hiwaga Komiks in my hands FIVE years ago.

It’s 2010. There are no more komiks at newsstands. GASI is still dead. PSG is still dead. REX is now just a bookstore. ATLAS still publishes…. stuff. But hardly comics. They did publish one comic book in 2009, the compilation of Coching’s Lapu Lapu, but that was it.

And yet, what is this Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah comic book that was made into a movie, and wait, wasn’t it also a successful musical for the CCP?

And yet, what is this Andong Agimat comic book that’s now set to come out in Philippine TV with Dingdong Dantes in the lead?

And yet, what is this TRESE Comic book that’s appearing on the bestseller lists at bookstores, and who this writer Budjette Tan who had been Powerbook’s Filipino Author of the Month? Oh yeah, TRESE is also a National Book Awardee and is also nominated to win THIS year? REALLY?

And yet, what are all these Filipino made comic books and their creators getting so much write ups at newspapers and magazines like the Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, FHM, Playboy, Philippines Free Press, High Society, Fudge Magazine, Pulp Magazine, Animal Scene, BluPrint, T3, etc.? Not to mention all that coverage on the TV?

And yet, what are all these comic book events that have been happening all over the country? I mean, in 2010 alone there were like what? Seven? Or wait… eight? EIGHT major comic book conventions in the Philippines? Are you serious? There was Renaissance and Komikstrip in February. Summer Komikon in April. Bicol Komiks Convention in May. Metro Comic-Con in August. Cebu Comics Convention in September. PICCA in October, and Komikon in November. All of that just this year?

And yet, when you go to these conventions there are LOTS of new comic book titles being sold. Some of them are printed, some of them are photocopied? Some are stapled, some are hardbound. Some are color, some are black and white?

And yet when you go to bookstores you get to see all these comic books… FILIPINO made comic books for sale: Private Iris, Martial Law Babies, Andong Agimat, Siglo: Passion, Siglo: Freedom, Underpass, TRESE, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, Basted, Fantasya, Tropa, Bayan Knights, Mangaholix, Mwahaha, 12, Kikomachine, Beerkada, Callwork, Chopstix, etc.? And when you go to comic book stores like Comic Odyssey, Comic Quest, Druid’s Keep and Sputnik, you get to see even more Filipino made comics including Elmer, Where Bold Stars Go To Die, Kalayaan, Maskarado, Carpool, Sulyap, Kubori Kikiam, Nardong Tae, Mascot, Super Debil Robot, Cresci Prophecies, Lipad, Langoy, Zombies in Manila, Roleplay, El Bimbo Variations, School Run, Baboy, Love Story, Plague, Punnx, Sandugan, Tog, Laban: A Love Story, etc. etc.? I’m running out of words here, really?!

I thought ATLAS, GASI, PSG, REX, and all those huge comics companies were now GONE? So WHERE are all these comic books and comic book events and happenings and stuff coming from?

If you have to ask, then you better get your head out of that sand and look around. LOOK AROUND, for once.

There is a NEW Philippine comic book industry, and it has been around since 1993. It’s nothing like the old komiks industry. It’s comic books are nothing like the old comic books. These are comics you don’t see at sidewalks or rent at your local sari sari store. They are no longer produced in the millions like the old days, but the question is: DO THEY HAVE TO BE? Do they have to be published in the hundreds of thousands for people to be happy and believe Philippine comics is alive? Do they HAVE to be in sidewalks? The answer to that question is NO. The days of the hundreds of thousands of comics in a week is GONE. It’s never coming back.

But we have comics NOW. They are fewer but they are here and they exist. They may not be found in the usual places, but they can be found. If we are not lazy and expect comics to fall out of the sky and into our laps and instead go out of our way to look for them, they CAN be found.

If you love Philippine comics so much, then get off your asses and go to your bookstores, comic book stores and attend comic book conventions so you can buy them. You can go to Lucban to get your longganisa, you can go to Lumban to get your barong, you can go to Paete to get your statues, you can travel as far as Cebu to get your CnT Lechon, why can’t you be bothered to take a trip to your nearby freakin’ bookstore or mall or attend one of the many conventions to get your comics?

Philippine poetry can’t be found at sidewalks. Philippine fiction can’t be found at sidewalks. Do we get all worked up, call a press conference and declare Philippine poetry and fiction are dead? We don’t. Because that would be STUPID. Same is true for Philippine Comics.

They are not created by huge comic book companies. They are created by individuals who do it not for money but for the love of comics. Some of them have since been picked up by book publishers. Can you imagine that? A whole freakin’ comic book industry powered not by money but by love?

It’s why this industry has so many detractors. They cannot wrap their money minded practical and logical brains around the concept of creating things out of love. To them we’re simply stupid misfits they wish they can turn their heads from and ignore. And if they can’t ignore, they attack. Ridicule. Belittle. Where’s the profit? What do we get out of it? What’s in it for me? These are questions we don’t ask ourselves, but questions THEY often ask themselves.

This is why this comics industry will never die. This is why we will never go away. Because we love doing it. We create comics even if we don’t make money from it. It’s an exercise that confounds every business sense, but it’s an exercise that will make our comics immortal.

Congrats to Fransico V. Coching and the Vibal Foundation for receiving the Gintong Aklat Award for Arts and Culture for “The Life and Art of Francisco Coching“, during ceremonies held at the Manila International Book Fair.

“The Gintong Aklat Awards aim to recognize excellence in Philippine bookmaking, and are given by the Book Development Association of the Philippines to outstanding book publishers based on the quality of books they produce.”

More info here:
Book on komiks maven Coching honored at Gintong Aklat Awards

Coching strikes again as “Francisco V. Coching’s EL INDIO” is named finalist for this year’s National Book Awards. The only other finalist in the Graphic Literature category is Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s TRESE: Mass Murders.

Winners will be announced on November 13 at The Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

I was supposed to be a speaker on DAY 2 where I will discuss how self publishers can survive in the Digital Age. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond my control have forced me to bow out of the conference. It was a difficult decision to make because there were plenty of things I wanted to say, specially in a program that made it seem that going digital was a forgone conclusion. I felt it was an obligation for me to offer a dissenting voice.

Nevertheless, below is the complete transcript of the talk that I would have had.

**********************

Komikero Publishing’s Survival Plan in the Digital Age
by Gerry Alanguilan

I have been self publishing my own comic books for the last 12 years. I started out as many comics people are starting out today….by making multiple photocopies of our work and then sell them ourselves. There are many ways to do this. We can deliver copies to sympathetic stores and comic book stores, sell them at local comics conventions, or sell them via mail.

In recent years I decided to legally establish my own publishing company, the sole purpose of which is to publish work that I wrote and/or drew. Instead of photocopy I went to an actual printing press. My output is sparse, with just one or two comic books a year since 2006. It is by no means something I can exclusively make a living out of, but I can honestly say that through selling the book myself, each publication has been quite profitable in comparison to the money I spend in printing them.

As early as the year 2000, I have been encountering furious discussions on the viability of online comics as a commercial enterprise. Over the years, the discussions have grown to include downloadable comics for reading on portable readers like the Kindle or the iPad. Advocates of digital comics have been quite vocal, I have discovered, and I am very sure there are many of you are here in this audience right now.

I have heard all the arguments. While it’s cool to have an actual copy of a book in your hands to see and smell, such attachments to tangibility is a characteristic that only the increasingly old may have. The younger generation are growing up without actual books so reading online or on a portable gadget won’t be a problem for them. In fact, entire libraries can fit into one of these gadgets giving more space in your house, and in your luggage when you travel. Now this all makes perfect sense, and I’m not here to argue the point.

As a self publisher in this increasingly digital age, how can I possibly survive? I have several answers for this.

Take note that I am speaking only for myself, as publisher and owner of what I consider to be a specialty publishing company, releasing only one or two books a year. What I say may not be applicable to bigger publishers and my experience cannot speak for those that are.

I honestly and truly believe that a third world country like the Philippines won’t be doing away with print books and publications anytime within the next 10 years. Because most of us, if not all of us here in this conference are most likely online, and we are in touch with the biggest and latest news in terms of publishing from abroad, I think we may be getting a skewed notion that all THAT is applicable here in the Philippines as well. Countries like the US or Japan can afford to go digital because majority of their population can afford it. Here in the Philippines, does anyone actually believe that the typical Pedro on the street who can barely make enough money to buy newspapers will be able to buy an iPad or any similar gadget, no matter how less expensive it may be, within the next 10 years, or even 15 years? I seriously doubt it.

Print publications here in the Philippines still has a long way to go yet, I believe. I am 42 years old now. Personally, I doubt that digital will overtake print in this country even within my lifetime. So why would I waste the time I have left in this world chasing after a market that will never be truly widespread until I die? It does not make any business sense.

So as a publisher, I will continue to have my comics printed, and will resist any suggestion to do otherwise.

Of course, I could be wrong. I could be devastatingly wrong. In 15 years, I might be out there, pan handling like a bum in the middle of Quiapo as the executives, students, cops, fortune tellers, florists, evangelists, dried fish vendors and takatak boys blissfully pass by with their iPads and Kindles.

But what is publication but a risk? As publishers, we are ALL taking a risk with the books we publish. As a publisher in the Philippines, to be specific… as a small time specialty Publisher… it is with print comics that I place my bets.

Let us say I was proven completely wrong and the Philippines has indeed gone digital in the near future (if not already) I will nevertheless still continue to have my comic books printed. I will still continue to do it, frustrating the naysayers no end until they scratch their heads and exasperatedly exclaim, “Why don’t you just die?!”

I won’t be doing this out of spite (perhaps partly I will), but only because I love print books. I love making them. And in the future, I really believe a few people will still feel the same way about books as I do.

Indeed, since I, and perhaps a couple of other people will be the only ones left doing it, our work will then become much more valuable. Imagine it. In an almost completely digital world, only a few rare individuals still create their comic books in print. We become a novelty, that’s true, but even among the young generation and the generations that will follow, there will be those who will be looking for the tangible thing. As many things from the old world fade and disappear, I believe the more we as human beings will value them. I’d like to think that I’ll be that TV repairman who still makes housecalls. I’ll be that crotchety old man whose job it is to repair typewriters. I’ll be the old school hippie selling vinyl records. I’ll be that curmudgeonly old shoemaker on the far side of town who will still measure your feet to make you shoes. I’ll be that weirdo who still writes letters by hand and sends them through the post office, no matter how expensive it is. I’ll be that grumpy old man in San Pablo City who draws on paper and prints his comics.

I am, by no means, a complete luddite. I have uploaded a few of my comics online and I have used the Internet considerably to promote my publications. In fact, online promotion has been a major part of my marketing strategy.

WASTED is the title of a comic book that I created from 1994 to 1996. It has gone through several editions in print, the first edition coming out in 1998 through Alamat Comics. In 2000 it was serialized for several months in Pulp Magazine. In 2002, Pulp Magazine published another compiled edition. A few years later, Wasted went out of print. In 2007, I decided to upload Wasted completely online, including a DVD-like commentary for each page at Webcomicsnation.com. It allowed a lot more people to read it, specially those from abroad.

But then, a strange thing happened. I still get letters and emails to this day from people looking for copies of Wasted. I always point out that they can read the entire thing for FREE online. The reaction is almost unanimous and immediate: No, we want to buy the print edition. There is not a comics convention that goes by (and believe it or not, we have something like six or seven of those a year here in the Philippines) that people don’t ask me for a copy of Wasted. The demand has grown so much that I’ve put it in the front burner of my company’s publishing schedule.

My other book ELMER was published through my own Komikero Publishing in 4 issues from 2006 to 2008. The first issue very quicky sold out. And when it did, I digitized it and uploaded it online as both as one HTML file where you can read it in one go, and as a downloadable Comic Book Reader file. FOR FREE. My purpose for doing so was to encourage people to buy the rest of the series in print, and the compiled edition which came out in 2009.

To further entice people to buy the printed comics, I collaborated with my wife’s paper crafting company to create a limited edition ELMER Box Sets which included a hardbound hand crafted copy of Elmer 1-4, photographs, facsimile of some of the objects found in the story, one piece of original artwork, and a certificate of authenticity. These are things that cannot be reproduced digitally, but can be created simply by hand. The minute I made the announcement on my blog about the existence of these box sets, I never had the opportunity to sell them at our local conventions because reservations for it came pouring in through email and quickly sold out.

Inspired by the success of the Elmer Box Sets, I am now currently planning what the WASTED special edition set will contain when I publish a new edition of it next year.

The next book I will publish is entitled “The Marvelous Adventures of the Amazing Doctor Rizal”. To encourage people to buy the print edition, I will be taking another risk and print it in a large format, with a width of 9 and half inches and height of 12 inches. Each copy will be hardcover, full color and printed on matte paper. Unless one has a large vertical monitor, the reader will not be able to fully appreciate the comic book in a digital format.

As a print publisher, I use the latest technologies to promote the work I do that’s available in print. I think it’s the perfect compromise between my personal sensibilities towards print publications, and the undeniable impact that the digital age has brought.

In spite of what I said earlier, I well and truly believe that digital books will and can exist side by side with print books and that both will flourish, and sometimes even complement each other. Not all people are created the same. Not all people will go digital, and not all people will be reading books in print. As we go slowly towards that day, I sincerely believe that technology, as well as us human beings, will find our proper places naturally through evolution and experimentation, and we will find there is a place for everyone, print and digital books alike.

The other day I received a package in the mail from my Spanish comics writer friend Raule. In the package are three hardcover French translations of his comic book Jazz Maynard with artist Roger. Yes, these guys go by just one name. I have a one-name for myself, but Ilyn absolutely freaks out when I attempt to use it. Gerardót. I mean, what’s wrong with Gerardót eh? EH?

Anyway, Raule has a strong connection with the Philippines. In the first panel of the very first page of Jazz Maynard volume 2, we have a Filipino character spouting our worst possible expletive…. in huge bold letters.

Isn’t that awesome? In a French translation of a Spanish hardcover full color comics album, no less? It’s freakin’ AWESOME.

I was happy to meet the writer Raule when he visited the Philippines. He didn’t speak a word of Tagalog or English,and I didn’t speak a word of Spanish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWsWH4_IhGc

Thank you very much Raule for your awesome gifts. I want you to know that my own comic books are heading your way as we speak! Thanks for the friendship from halfway around the world. It only goes to show that when we talk comics, we really only speak the same language.

Triple Punch Komiks!, published by Polyhedron Comics is an anthology of three stories in three different genres. The first story, “Project BC” written and illustrated by Ron Escultura, is science fiction, featuring a human controlled giant robot reminiscent of something like Daimos. I like the simple and soft rendering of human figures and I would have loved to see that applied in the backgrounds as opposed to photos. The constant flashbacking got kind of confusing, specially during moments when you didn’t realize you were already back in the present. It nevertheless serves as a nice introduction to the who, what, and where of the series, and what to expect in the future. I’m not sure what purpose the one panel Bernardo Carpio strips that run along the bottom of the pages though. I wouldn’t mind seeing more Project BC.

The second story “Ang Ulupong ng Morong: Suntok sa Langit” with story and script by Ian Magallona, art and layout by Nixon Na and lettering by Jordan Santos is crime/action, featuring a lone hero/super soldier named “Pong”. It offers a completely different vibe from “Project BC”, and might not be entirely appropriate for kids as it has profanity, sex, and lots of bloody violence. As an adult, I like the violence. There are genuine moments of excitement during the action scenes. Figure drawing could still be improved though, as well as the foreshortening of the head at certain angles. If more Ulupong ng Morong stories are created, I wouldn’t mind checking them out.

I have to admit, the true gem of this issue is “Poso Maximo”, written and drawn by Robert Magnuson. I am a long time admirer of Robert’s work, but I’ve never had the opportunity to write about him until now. And I do so because Poso Maximo is something that every comic book fan should read, whatever your age may be.

It is by far, the best short story I’ve read in comics in 2010. I also think it’s a work of sheer cartooning genius. His storytelling is impeccable as Robert tells the story clearly and beautifully in 12 wordless pages. Everyone I show the story to come away with a smile on their face. This is a story that a lot of people will love. This is the kind of comics that could bring children back to reading comics.

And I think it might be to Robert and Poso Maximo’s disservice to be included in a comic book that might deprive them of a younger and wider readership because of adult material elsewhere in the book.

Let me be clear. I don’t mind sex and violence. Have you read my comic books, specially Wasted? I think a story like Ulupong ng Morong can stand completely on its own and as such its sale can be restricted only to those who are old enough. To include something like Poso Maximo in there would only deprive the story of its proper audience.

I am glad that Robert would be coming out with a much bigger solo project in time for Komikon in November. I’m looking forward to that!

There’s one more thing I want to say about Robert. He’s also a children’s book writer and artist. His books have been published by Hiyas Children’s Books. Robert has been doing something very sneaky with his story books. He has begun to tell his stories with panels and word balloons (example above), virtually creating comic books specifically for children to read.

Robert is one of the very few local creators creating a new audience for comics by gearing them for younger readers. This is the time when we need more new readers than ever before.

Francisco V. Coching’s Life and Art book can finally be purchased directly from Amazon.com, for those of you who reside *outside* the Philippines. Click on the link above or here. Looks like stocks are limited, so hurry! If it runs out, more stocks are on the way.

For other books published by Vibal Foundation that’s also available at Amazon, click here.

Vibal is still working on getting Coching’s EL INDIO available at Amazon as well.

View the set manually here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/komikero/sets/72157623529364161/

And of course I had to have video too!

View on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGPEjKoZFLQ

Neil Gaiman’s Journal
Neil Gaiman’s Twitter

As I said in the video, Neil Gaiman is one of the very few writers I would take so much trouble to line up for and meet. I’m really just a huge fan of his work. His Sandman stories have truly touched me emotionally and intellectually, and more importantly, inspired me a lot in my own attempts to write stories.

Sandman was also my deal breaker when it came to relationships. In the old days before I got married, I lent the first volume of Sandman to girls I was interested in. If they returned it to me unread or say they didn’t get it, it was pretty much off. I couldn’t connect intellectually with someone like that.

Ilyn loved Sandman, so there you go. And thank you Neil.

But for a couple of days I’ve had a chance to really rest, but not quite. Even lying down I came up with comics ideas and one that amused me (and Ilyn) the most was one with the title “Captain Noah and the Battle Ark”, complete with Battlejeeps and Trike-Cruisers. I’ve been puttering with the idea of a huge ark in space for quite some time, not realizing that it had been done many times before. So that’s why Leinil yawned at an ARK idea I had a while back. But this one I came up with sounds really fun, and its going to be for kids. Once again, it’s another idea that goes into the big black book, and as to when I actually start work on it (if I ever do), it won’t be for a long long time.

Lying down I also got a bit of a chance to read. Budjette Tan had given me a copy of WISDOM, written by Paul Cornell. Now I’m a huge fan of Paul Cornell because of his stories for Doctor Who. I thought his writing on Wisdom was terrific and it made me want to start collecting his stories.

I also read a magazine on Genealogy, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, published by the BBC, and it’s made me interested in finding the roots of my own family. It may be difficult as there might have been a couple of undocumented name changes in our past that could obscure accuracy. But still, it might be interesting just what I would find investigating our old church records and what it would say about our family.

I also listened to a few podcasts I downloaded into this neat little gadget that Ilyn bought me for my birthday. I’d been hankering for this thing for several years now and I’m glad to say we could finally afford to get it. So I downloaded a few episodes of Comic Geek Speak, which I’ve been listening to on and off for the last few years. Only now did I stumble into an episode that featured “Uncle Sal”, apparently a recurring guest on the show who is much enjoyed. Me, I was laughing my head off the entire time. This guy is hysterical. Politically incorrect, inappropriate, but just absolutely hysterical.

I’m kinda worried for my friend Arlan, whom many of you know as the artist of “Where Bold Stars Go To Die”. It seems his illness has gotten a bit worse. To those out there who believe in a God, please pray for him, and even if you don’t, if you could just send good vibes his way or leave messages for him at his Facebook page, I think it would be great. We are of course, still holding on to hope that Arlan will be with us for many more years to come.

Sorry for the big ass word, but Adam David’s reviews of anything is just absolutely splendid. It’s much to our luck and benefit that he chooses to write a lot of reviews on comics. This time, he trains his critical eye on Francisco V. Coching’s El Indio.

Rarefied heights, restoration, and the rhythm method
Some analyses on the mastery of form of Francisco V. Coching’s El Indio
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 Now UP!