Taking Comic Seriously

Filipino comics might have taken a bit of a rest, but it never died — as any Filipino artist like Gerry Alanguilan who is behind Wasted, Johnny Balbona, Human Rex!, Timawa and Elmer, and known as inker for American comic titles such as X-Men, Superman: Birthright, Wolverine, High Roads, Fantastic Four, and Silent Dragon, would try to attest.

As guest of honor in the recently held Fourth Annual Filipino Komiks Convention (KOMIKON 2008) at the UP Bahay ng Alumni, Gerry accommodated questions from comic fans, concerning his craft.

On Young Artists and New Trends of Comic Art
Gerry states, the new comics are “influenced by current trends of [comic-making] not only in terms of art but also in storytelling. Young comic artists are inspired to tell more things in a couple of panels. More text, less art.”

He adds that artists of the new generation need more motivation for them not to appear as if they are just doing the comics for fun. “If you are more serious with your work and you want to do comics for life, you have to uplift the standard of it. Komiks na ang buhay ko,” Gerry sums up.

Of Becoming a Writer-Artist
Gerry is neither more of a writer nor more of an artist. “I’ve trained very hard to combine [the two lines of work].” According to him, a comic is a collaboration of texts: you need both a writer and an artist to complete a comic book. A comic artist must try to come up with a pure collaboration of both though that would be very hard to achieve.

On His Dedication to Comics
Gerry says, he accepted an offer to teach Comic Illustration in College of St. Benilde, School of Fine Arts but he only lasted for a term in the profession because it required too much of his time. With the tight class schedule, he no longer had time to work on his comics. He asserts that if one is serious into entering the comics industry, he or she must have the right state of mind. And of course, if you love what you do, you’ll prioritize it above anything else. Gerry rationalizes, you will do comics not just because of the money and popularity you will earn out of it, but because of the passion you have for it.

On Setting an Example to Young Artists and the Current State of Filipino Comics Gerry believes that all we need is a direction from one generation to the next: the veterans must set a good example of creating comics for the aspiring ones. And at this point, he says, “there’s still the big interest for Komiks kahit nawala na ‘yung malalaking publications like Atlas.” There is simply a need for new comics to be pushed for improvement and for artists to be complacent.

He relates that one way of showing the drive to improve young talents is what KC Cordero, editor of Timawa, tries to pull off with sponsoring comic stripping contests. He also mentions some of the titles he adores including Martial Law Babies, Trese, and Zsa Zsa Zaturnah. Myka Santiago

Want to be a professional komikero like Gerry? Learn about digital comic-making here.