I guess the trigger that finally made me realize I don’t want to do this anymore was a recent invitation to give a talk at a school in Manila. Now when I’m invited, there are things I wish people would understand.

One, I would be coming from San Pablo City, in Laguna. That’s 82 kilometers away, around 2 hours or more of public transportation going to Manila via tricyle, bus, and at Manila perhaps LRT or Taxi, depending on where it is. It would be another 2 hours or more going back.

Two, since I’m coming from San Pablo for an hour or couple of hours talk at a school in Manila, it means I’m actually devoting an entire day including travel time. I will be stopping my work for an entire day, an entire day away from my drawing table. And since I’m in a business where you don’t get paid if you don’t work, that’s an entire day where I won’t earn my living.

Three, teaching is work. The professors of these students teach them and they get paid for it. I share my specialized knowledge and expertise to teach students what I know, but I do it for free.

So if you think about it, an invitation means I’m invited to stop working on my comics (which means less income for me), spend my own money to travel via a long bus trip to Manila, where I will work for free.

Now I don’t charge at all for talks like this. This is not about the money. I’m just trying to put some kind of perspective here. To make you understand exactly what i’m being asked to do, and what that entails.

So I told the group I don’t mind giving a talk. My only request was, I hoped they could give me a ride. I’m not exactly a really young guy anymore, and it’s becoming more difficult for me to commute long distances by bus. I think that’s only a fair request, in exchange for the things they’re asking me to give up and do. A ride from San Pablo to Manila and back. Since this is an exclusive school which I assume are populated with well off students and well off parents, I think it wouldn’t be a problem for them to spare someone to come get me do this job for them.

And you know what? They reconsidered their invitation. It seems they no longer want me to give a talk anymore.

Now that just made something snap in my mind. If I had gone along with this, they would thank me and think I’m such a nice guy, but I can’t help but feel I had just been taken advantage of. And I think I’ve come to that point and that age, where I have to draw the line and just say ENOUGH OF THIS. If they come away thinking I’m not so nice, well I don’t care what they think, or what anyone thinks. Call this EGO if you want, but if EGO means nobody gets to take advantage of me anymore, then I don’t care what you call it.

I’ve already said yes to one more talk in Lucena, but after that, I will no longer be accepting invitations like this. And for this I truly and honestly apologize. But it can’t be helped. I just don’t want to do it anymore.

It doesn’t mean I don’t want to teach, or share my knowledge. It’s quite the opposite. If you look at this blog, you will find tons and tons of articles of advice, tips, and how tos on the art of creating comics. You just have to want to read it. It’s all here. And if you have any question about anything about the art of comics, you can just send me a message or post something at my Facebook page, and if you ask nicely (and aren’t intolerably pushy and demanding), I usually reply and offer my advice. To me that’s already teaching, and I do it for free.

Now that said, I wish to give some advice to schools and universities. I don’t know where the idea of hiring a specialist for a day to teach your students and don’t pay them for it came about. I’ve been thinking about it, and yeah, there seems to be something inequitable in this equation. You pay your professors to teach your students, and yet when you invite a specialist for a day of special education, you don’t pay them, and you don’t even offer to give them a ride for their trouble. I suggest you start. The artists won’t ask for it because artists are like that. They love to share what they know, and they would readily do it for free, as I have many many times. But for the things they do for you, I think it’s worth paying them for the things they can teach your students. Don’t wait for them to ask, because they won’t. Offer it. And I’m not talking honorarium. It’s nice when schools do offer it, but lots of times they don’t. Show them you appreciate their service, and the things they’re giving up just to share what they know. I think it’s only fair.

Creating comics take an incredible amount of time to do. I spent years just doing Elmer and now I’m spending years just trying to get Dr. Rizal off the ground. On top of that is the inking jobs from Marvel that take even far longer to do. Before I go on I must say that I’m NOT complaining. I love the job. I’m just stating the fact that being in comics takes up an incredible amount of time in my day.

I can no longer count the numerous times I had to beg off invitations to talks, meetings, events, conventions, trips, etc. because I just didn’t have the time. There are meetings I suddenly can’t go to, projects that I can longer commit to, because I have to stay home and work. It’s hard to explain sometimes and make people understand. Like yesterday was a Sunday. I had a meeting for a school reunion, and I could no longer attend because I needed to finish pages. Today is a holiday, but I’m still working.

PICCA, the Philippine International Cartoons and Comics Festival is still ongoing and I used to have an active role in it, but again, due to work, I’ve had to decline further participation because I just could no longer spare the time. PICCA by the way, happens at the end of this month.

It’s also why there have been less San Pablo Comics Festivals than I would have normally liked. I just can no longer commit to organizing it. I can’t attend the meetings, I can’t manage the various little things needed to be done to make such a festival go forward.

I was invited to France for a three week tour for Festivals and Conventions because of the nominations that ELMER had gotten at such events. But I knew I had a lot of work I had to do, and I couldn’t afford to take off for three weeks. I was feeling poorly earlier on and that contributed to that as well. But sickness or no, I still had to work.

Once again let me reiterate. I’m NOT complaining. I don’t regret missing out on a lot of these things. In the end, they all fall secondary to what I really want to do, and that is create comics. My focus has always been creating comics. It’s what I love to do, and I must apologize to everyone if I choose it over everything else (well, except family that is).

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.

One of the most frequent questions I get from aspiring artists is, “How do I find work at Marvel and DC comics?” It’s a fair question because it’s something I myself asked many years ago when I wanted to start drawing comics. Having worked in the industry now for almost 20 years, and having worked for both Marvel and DC, I would like to share what that experience has been like, and how a young (or old) Philippine artist based here in the Philippines can break into American comics.

Before I start, a word of advice. Some of those who sent me inquiries wrote messages in text speak. I say grow up and learn to communicate properly. You’ll get nowhere in the professional world speaking like that. Specially if you intend on breaking into comics internationally.

And a personal advice which I think may well be the most important of all: Search your feelings and try to figure out if comics is what you really want to do in your life. Are you serious in your ambition to work in comics? Why are you going into comics in the first place? Is it because you think it’s something that pays well? Is it because you think it will make you famous? I have received many inquiries in the past saying the same things. They tell me things like:

“How much will I make when I work in comics?”
“I would like to be in comics I would like to sign comics like you!”
“I want fangirls!”

Well, you can want what you want, that’s all right. But let me say right here that creating comics is a very difficult job. It’s not only very difficult, but also very time consuming. Comics is more than just drawing figures with muscles throwing punches at each other. It’s about telling stories. It’s about drawing well, and drawing EVERYTHING well and on time. Just because you can draw a nice figure wielding a sword or a giant gun right now doesn’t mean you can do comics. It doesn’t work that way. All artists need to have rigid training in all aspects of comic book drawing (perspective, human and even animal anatomy, light and shade, drafting, sequential storytelling).

How long this training takes depends on the artist. Some artists take YEARS before they achieve that standard of professionalism acceptable for Marvel or DC. For me, it took at least 3 years of intensive training before I reached that level good enough for inking. Leinil Yu took around a year perhaps? Ask all the other artists like Carlo Pagulayan, Harvey Tolibao, Philip Tan, Mico Suayan or Steven Segovia (all active artists working in Marvel or DC right now), and they will tell you the same thing. It took years of hard work, study and training before they became good enough to achieve that level.

Other artists are continuing to try to break in even after so many years. In a way, *I’m* still trying to break in myself because there are still more aspects of comic books I want to achieve like more writing and more drawing. Every single project I do is always me trying to prove that I can still do it, and that I’m still good enough for the next project. I never let my guard down and be complacent. I could just as easily be knocked out of my job just like that by someone who does a better job than me.

There are only a few ones, among hundreds who aspire to be in comics who actually make it. And none of them, NONE of them broke into comics because they thought of money first, or fame first, or the glory or whatever. We all did it because we love comics. We love drawing comics. We love it with a burning passion. That is the kind of motivation that you will need if you ever want to surpass all the years of hardship and difficulty. Because if you are not doing it for the love of it, you will quit because you will find the job a little too hard. I guarantee you that.

And while we do it for the love of it, I myself never forget that ultimately, it’s also a job. And a job comes with responsibilities. You cannot do comics today and not do them tomorrow because you feel lazy or you “don’t feel like it.” There is no room for moods in creating comics. You can’t afford to wait until inspiration strikes you before you work. You have to sit at that table and draw, whether you like it or not. And yes, even for us who love comics, sometimes it can get tedious, specially after working 18 hour days for months on end. That’s why we welcome things like signings and conventions, because they are the few times we manage to take a break.

You are in a very tight competition for a limited amount of jobs. Remember, you are not only competing with fellow Filipinos, you are competing with every single talented aspiring artist all over the freakin’ world. South Americans, Europeans, other Asians, Americans, Canadians, Australians, etc. And they’re all amazing artists. You can’t have half-assed submissions with wonky figures and screwed up perspective and crappy drafting. You have to give editors a reason why they should get YOU instead of that amazingly talented South American guy. Or that stunningly fantastic European guy. You must strive not to be just good, you have to be very good, even great.

Check out previews of upcoming American comics here. You need to bring your work up to this standard, and perhaps even surpass it. You think this happens overnight? You have a LOT of work in front of you and be prepared to take years out of your life of constant practice. This is the comic book Olympics. You’re fighting to be one of the best among the best.

Ok, what if now you have managed to reach a certain level of professionalism in your work. What do you do? How do you get in touch with Marvel or DC?

Unfortunately, these companies no longer accept unsolicited submissions (artwork that you send to them through the mail or email) like the used to. Here is Marvel’s current submission policy:

Marvel does not accept or consider any ideas, creative suggestions, artwork, designs, game proposals, scripts, manuscripts, or similar material unless we have specifically requested it from you. Marvel is continuously developing and creating its own ideas and materials, and we don’t have the resources to review or respond to unsolicited material. Unfortunately, any unsolicited material you send will not be read or shared. It will be destroyed, and it will not be returned.

While we can’t accept your unsolicited submissions, please know that Marvel is always looking for new comic book artists and writers. We constantly read and review indie, self-published, creator-owned, and web-comics, review popular online art communities, ask other artists for opinions and recommendations, and host portfolio reviews at conventions from time to time. If you are an aspiring comic book artist or writer, we suggest you publish or publicly post your material, continue to create, and if you have the right stuff…we’ll find you.

The same is apparently true for DC Comics:

Submissions By Mail and Email
At this time, DC Comics does not accept unsolicited artwork or writing submissions.

What Is The DC Talent Search?
Like many creative fields, breaking into the comic book business as an artist can be an exciting but challenging process. It takes proper training, a ton of practice, making the right contacts, learning to sell your talents, building a strong portfolio and much patience. However, time and time again, the best advice we can offer aspiring artists is: Go to a Comics Convention!

There’s more info at the DC site so just go there to see what other options are open to you.

It seems pretty clear what needs to be done if ever you want to work for them. Marvel seems to be saying that you need to prove yourself first via other publications at other smaller companies. What other companies are there? There’s Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios, IDW, APE Entertainment, Dynamite!, Radical, etc. Not only that, Marvel also seems willing to look at comics you yourself publish whether in print or on the web. See there? If you have a story, and if you draw it, you can just find someplace to upload it online and if it’s any good, it will get attention. If you do a good job, you prove what a talented creator you are, and that your work manages to get a following, Marvel will come knocking on YOUR DOOR.

That is how a lot of professionals in comics managed to break into comics at the big companies. They worked for independent companies first or did their work online. They proved themselves elsewhere first, and proved how good they are at what they do. How do you do this? Many of these companies, specially Image and Dark Horse, have their own set of submission guidelines. Unlike Marvel and DC, they do accept unsolicited submissions. Here’s your chance to send them your stuff directly, but make sure you follow their guidelines carefully. Go here for Image Comics Submission Guidelines. Go here for Dark Horse Submission Guidelines. As for the other companies, feel free to just Google it.

You can also try to submit stories to anthologies. More often than not, they don’t pay, but it’s a chance to get your work exposed. How to find out about those projects? Networking online is very important. Participate in comic book forums and communities on the web. Be active at places like Deviant Art, and other places where artists, writers and other comic book people gather online. That way you can find out about various projects and comic books you can submit your work to.

And when you find a project, don’t accept it right away. Study up on who you are working with. Google their names and their company name. See if they’re reliable or if they have a bad rep online. If they seem to be in good standing, proceed with caution nevertheless. Always try and protect yourself. I know, based on experience, that new artists get so giddy at the thought of working for companies abroad that they’re willing to work for free or for little. Pick your projects wisely. There are projects worth doing for free if in exchange you will get some exposure, specially as I said, on anthologies. But if you’re working on a book solo, a measure of compensation should come your way. Be warned that more often than not, you will be promised a “cut” of the profits as your share, but I’m sorry, hardly any independently made comic book makes money so you’re basically working for free.

DC Comics has another advice: attend a comic book convention. Now that is easier said than done for Filipinos living in the Philippines. How to attend a US convention where all the Marvel and DC editors are? Simple. You just have to raise the money. There’s really no getting around it. I loaned money from my parents back in 1997 just so I can attend the San Diego Convention for the first time. I spent months creating the most kick ass submission I could muster and passed it around. It put me in touch with an editor who eventually gave me a job. I’d like to think that I did very well at that job that it led to other jobs, which eventually led to working for Marvel and then DC.

Filipinos in the Philippines have another option: Get a comic book agent. Locally, there’s Glass House Graphics. This is the entry point to many successful Filipino comic book creators locally including Wilson Tortosa and Carlo Pagulayan. Go to their site and follow their submission guidelines.

Not only must you be good, but you must also be “accessible”. And what I mean by that is that you are easy to get in touch with. Since English is a second language to Filipinos, the language barrier is really no longer a problem, unless you insist on half-assed text speaking. Accessible means they have easy means to send you messages, and easy means for you to respond in a very timely manner. This means you need a computer, and you need a scanner, preferably an A3 scanner (which can scan 11″x17″ pages in one go). If you’re an inker, you’re going to need an A3 printer as well. And yes, you will be needing a stable and fast Internet connection. Those tools are now essential for any Philippine based artist wanting to work for US companies.

And as I previously mentioned, this is a job and it comes with responsibilities. When you apply for that job, remember you are now representing not only yourself, but the Philippines. If they get in touch with you, respond in a timely manner and communicate properly. Don’t hide from editors. Don’t lie to editors. And don’t make excuses. Do the job and do it well. Show them that you are easy to get in touch with (or else they’ll just hire the guy living next door to them. Why bother with the hassle of hiring this uncommunicative guy from across the world?), and that you can be depended on to do the job right and on time.

Don’t forget, the “submissions” process never truly ends. There is a saying among comic book professionals: You’re only as good as your last job. And that seems to bear out. Don’t be complacent. Treat each project as your last and always try to keep proving yourself. Just because you manage to draw ONE comic book means your comic book career is ensured for life. Not so. You just have to keep working at it, and keep getting better at it.

That said, the best of luck to you. It’s a difficult field to get into, but it’s always possible, as long as you have the right motivation, determination and talent.

Here’s RH himself where he talks at length about the issue: http://rhiver.deviantart.com/journal/43771969/

In the comments thread in Facebook, Gilbert Monsanto says this is not the first time this guy has tried to swipe something in this manner.

I think by this time people should be smart enough not to swipe stuff, specially now in the age of the Internet. Nobody can get away with something like this for long. You just can’t. And creators themselves need to be vigilant in protecting their creations. This is one of those times.

100 Araw ng Komiks (100 Days of Comics) is an online event organized for the purpose of spreading awareness of Philippine Komiks through Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, blogs and other online venues. Click here for the event page on Facebook. The Komikero Comics Journal will be posting everyday for the month of July news, opinions and commentary on aspects of the Philippine comics industry. Today, I will talk about a Creating ELMER time lapse video.

Back in 2007 I had the opportunity to promote ELMER at an American magazine called “SKETCH”. It’s a magazine that features how comics were created, and I was asked to write an article for it. I asked, “How about I write an article about creating one page of Elmer?” And they said yes, which I was very thankful for because Elmer was practically an unknown entity.

As an added bonus, readers of the magazine would get an exclusive link to a video of how I drew that same page, hosted at Live Video. At the time, Live Video was offering much better video quality than You Tube, so I chose to host it there. Live Video has since gone down in popularity, and You Tube is now offering superior video quality.

Looking at that video again, I’m annoyed at how I kept on blabbing about things that I decided to re-edit it, take out all the talk, and just concentrate on the video, turning it into a time lapse.

Now if you want the verbose talky edition, the videos can still be seen at Live Video, although somewhat intermittently. Sometimes their site is down. But if you want to take your chances, the links are below. You might even get an insight to how I approach the creation of my Elmer pages.

Drawing Elmer at Live Video Part 1
Drawing Elmer at Live Video Part 2

100 Araw ng Komiks (100 Days of Comics) is an online event organized for the purpose of spreading awareness of Philippine Komiks through Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, blogs and other online venues. Click here for the event page on Facebook. The Komikero Comics Journal will be posting everyday for the month of July news, opinions and commentary on aspects of the Philippine comics industry. Today, I will talk about My Comic Book Creation Seminar.

For a long time people have been asking me if they could work as an intern for me or as an apprentice. I’ve usually declined. It’s not that I was hesitant to share my knowledge, but it all comes down to a personal insecurity that what I know isn’t really worth shit. Meaning, I myself have still lots to learn about the art of creating comics. I still do. And a lot of the things I do to create my comics is contrary to what a lot of books on comic book creation teaches. I’ve always been afraid that I might teach people the wrong things.

But it’s been pointed out to me (as hands were being slapped on my face) that what I do seems to work, and it’s worth teaching. Whatever it is.

So although I still can’t take on interns or apprentices, I’ve decided to hold a one day comic book creation seminar sometime in December 2011. It will be quite intensive, and I will teach all aspects of creating comic books from conception to spending your money after selling your comic book at a comics convention. Although I can’t guarantee that you will be able to create comics successfully after the seminar, you will come away with some know how about creating them. Creating comics is, after all, a process that takes a long long time. All I will teach you is how to do it, and guide you through the process of creating comic books. It’s up to you to use that knowledge to work, study and make your comic book come alive in the months that would follow.

This would have to be an advance class. I will be teaching the process of creating comics, and I will teach you with the assumption that you already know how to draw. I cannot teach you how to draw. You will have to learn that from other people, or by yourself through books and magazines. So when you attend, don’t expect that I will teach you the principles of light and shade or even human anatomy. You need to have a rudimentary knowledge of how to do that because if not, you will most likely be left behind. Learning how to draw takes a LOOONG time and it cannot be taught and learned in just one day.

I’m announcing it this early because in case you do want to attend, and you still don’t know how to draw, then you have now until December to learn what you can. I will be announcing the topics I will be discussing soon, but the emphasis of the entire seminar will be comic book storytelling, and that’s the process by which you use words and pictures to tell the story in a comic book page.

The catch is, the seminar would be held here in San Pablo City. Please don’t ask me to hold one in Manila as it would be very inconvenient for me. I will be providing an air-conditioned venue, as well as snacks and lunch and some reading material. That said, I would have to charge for the seminar. I’m posting it early also to gauge interest. Is anyone out there willing to take the trip to San Pablo to learn comics from me?

100 Araw ng Komiks (100 Days of Comics) is an online event organized for the purpose of spreading awareness of Philippine Komiks through Twitter, Facebook, DeviantArt, blogs and other online venues. Click here for the event page on Facebook. The Komikero Comics Journal will be posting everyday for the month of July news, opinions and commentary on aspects of the Philippine comics industry. Today, I will talk about Flashpoint, and Sterling Paper.

The very beginnings of the modern Philippine Independent Komiks Industry can be traced to this comic book. Flashpoint #1, published in January 1994 by Straight Lines International, owned by Sterling Paper, had creative people who would eventually become to be some of the biggest movers and shakers of the Philippine comics industry, including Carlo Vergara (who went on to create ZsaZsa Zaturnnah) and David Hontiveros (Pelicula, Bathala). I thought the work was really raw, inconsistent and rough. But I think that can only be expected for a bunch of young creators just beginning to learn their craft. But here and there were sparks of potential and each page displayed a remarkable sense of passion for the medium.

Today we all know how brilliant these creators have become, having come a long way from Flashpoint more than 25 years ago.

The fact that Sterling Paper was behind the publication of this comic book is interesting, considering the events of the past several years.

Flash forward to 2007. The old komiks industry has faded. Carlo J. Caparas was going around the country on a Komiks Caravan spreading awareness of komiks, talking about the “revival of komiks”, perhaps completely unaware that for the past 23 years, a generation of comic book creators younger than him were already reviving komiks in their own way, self publishing, and self distributing. In that 23 years Philippine comics have evolved and moved on from the old formats and old sensibilities. They were holding comic book conventions several times a year, promoting and selling comics, without the benefit of big publishers, completely out of a sense of self reliance and independence.

Many people were pining for the good old days of komiks when they could be found at every street corner, every sari sari store, all across the country. The older creators were pining for the days of Atlas and GASI, big time publishers who gave them their jobs to create comics. But with all the big publishers gone, no one is there to hire them, and no one was there to print and distribute their comics. To get an industry like we had in the old days going, what people didn’t fully understand was it required an enormous amount of money. It didn’t require a million pesos, it required millions of pesos. Think about it. You needed money to hire people to write, draw, color, edit the comics, and that includes an renting an office to work from, and hiring a staff to do the production work. You need to buy all the office equipment including chairs, desks, computers, scanners, desktop printers, and so forth. You need to pay the utilities to run your office (water, electricity, telephone). You need a printing press and people to run it. Supplies like paper and ink to keep the presses running. You needed vehicles and drivers and workmen to move the comics. And for your comics to reach all corners of the country, you need solid contacts with the distributor cartels in the country and you need the cash to keep that distribution line well oiled. All this has to be in place just to bring an inexpensive comic book to your sari sari store in Jolo, Baguio, Iloilo or Batanes.

Bottom line: You need tens of millions of pesos to revive the Komiks industry on a national scale.

The average Philippine Independent comic book creator has how much personal money in his pocket to publish his comics? 500 pesos? 1000 pesos?

So you can only imagine the frustration one feels when morons online who think they know what they’re talking about rant online about how these new comics are too expensive and can’t be bought everywhere.

The independent creators, let me reiterate, pay for the publication of their comics out of their own pocket. They don’t have the millions of pesos required to mount a nationwide revival of komiks. They do the best they can, out of their own initiative. The fact that the independent movement is still alive after 25 years, and is still growing today, is only an indication that this is a little industry that isn’t going away.

So, in 2007, the independent creators have been at it for the last 20 or so years, doing the best they can, and yet they have been successful in creating some of the most interesting and most significant comic books in Philippine comics’ modern history. But they lack the money to go widespread and nationwide.

Carlo J. Caparas was also in the same boat. CJC was one of the biggest names of the old industry, and in 2007 he launched on a massive media campaign with the hopes of reviving Philippine komiks. He did this by going on a “Komiks Caravan”, and later putting together a Komiks Congress. However, like the Philippine Independent creator, he too did not have the millions to actually start publishing comic books. All he did was well, talk about it. And unless he came up with his own money (like we did) to publish his comics, talk is all he will ever do.

And this is when Sterling Paper re-entered the picture.

Sterling Paper once again wanted to publish comics, and they had millions of pesos to do it. By all intents and purposes, this was exactly what everyone was waiting for. The first people Sterling Paper contacted to help them in their venture was Mango Comics, headed by Mr. Boboy Yonzon, who was then currently publishing Mwahaha! and Mango Jam. Mr. Yonzon in turn, recommended me as one of the creative people. Sterling even sent over a representative to my home here in San Pablo so we could talk about and plan how we are going to go about it. Their plan was staggering. Regular comic books will be released and will be sold very inexpensively (10 pesos a copy) on a national level. I would invite many other comic book creators of the independent industry, and was excited by the fact that they would be equally hiring veterans to work on other stories as well. I came away from the meeting so excited that I drew an online comic strip the minute they left.

Click for larger image.

Time passed and I wondered what had happened. I am not fully aware exactly how events transpired, but all I know from my end is that Mango Comics and I were no longer involved in creating the comic books, and Carlo J. Caparas was now creative director. And CJC opted for an almost fully veteran-created line of comic books, created with the same storytelling sensibilities of the old komiks industry. Except for one or two exceptions, the younger comic book creators were completely shut out, as we were shut out during the Komiks Congress, the supposed congress organized to study how Philippine Komiks can be revived, which became anything but that.

Isn’t it a wonder that the Sterling Comics project failed spectacularly? As a fan, I appreciated the amazing art by some artists, including Hal Santiago who really gave it his all, but in general, I found it difficult to connect to the material. It felt like reading old komiks, which spoke nothing to who I am today as a Filipino.

Imagine Darna as reinvisioned by Arnold Arre and myself. Imagine TRESE by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. Imagine ZsaZsa Zaturnnah by Carlo Vergara and Kiko Machine by Manix Abrera. These could have been the kind of stories Filipinos would have read nationwide (and inexpensively) had Mango Comics remained with the project. Sterling Paper had the millions to make this possible. But I guess it was not meant to be.

It’s a lesson that future publishers ought to keep in mind. You can’t keep ignoring us, pretending we are not here. Even now, there are efforts to revive the industry without involving us who have done comics for the last 20 years. Even today there are people who believe that it was Carlo Caparas who revived komiks in 2007, when in reality, it was Sterling Paper. You need to involve the younger creators, because if you don’t, any effort you may have will surely end in disaster.

And what is Carlo J. Caparas doing now with regards to “reviving komiks”? I have no idea.

But the Independent Komiks creators are still at it. They are still spending their own money to publish their own comics. Other fans are still organizing events across the country. In July 16 is a comic book convention in Baguio. In November is the 7th Annual Komikon. Carlo Vergara is on his way to creating a new ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Book. David Hontiveros is continuing to write Bathala. Budjette Tan is creating more Trese. Arnold Arre and I are going head with our Darna plans (and a project of our own). The same is true for hundreds more creators who continue to do Philippine comics today.

If you would like to meet some of them, click here.

There’s nothing essentially wrong with that, and indeed, if comics are used to educate, raise important issues and save lives, that is an admirable thing indeed. And the fact that the medium of comics is being used to do it (as opposed to or perhaps in addition to TV, radio, broadsheet), then it’s a great thing for comics overall. And any comic book creator out there who chooses to be involved in projects like this has my admiration and respect.

However, I do have an advocacy of my own, and unfortunately, it’s an advocacy that takes precedence over anything else. Now let me just be clear that this is a personal choice. This is a decision that I have made only for myself. My advocacy is the pursuit of recognition for comics as a legitimate form of art, and not simply “cheap entertainment for the masses”. As such, I need to pursue my own stories, and create my own comics in the best possible way that I can, without limits, without censorship. I want to create stories purely out of my own imagination that I hope would have substance and intelligence that would push the boundaries of the medium. All this in the hopes of completely erasing the automatic “CHEAP” reaction whenever Philippine Komiks are mentioned, and to help elevate the impression people have of what Philippine comics are capable of.

Because of this, I only have time to pursue stories I choose to tell. Each project may take years, but that’s only because I take great care to come up with the best possible work that I can.

So if you or your group has a comic project in mind, know now that my own projects would keep me busy from doing yours, but if you like, I have a lot of people, talented, able and willing to do those projects for you, and I’ll gladly refer you.