Missing the Filipino ‘komiks’

By Herbert Vego

SHORTLY before he passed away on February 8 this year at the age of 78, I interviewed renowned Ilonggo painter and illustrator Arturo “Art” Geroche about the medium he had loved and devoted time to.

We talked about the demise of the “komiks” as a commercial art which sounds Greek to today’s young Filipinos.

They do not miss “komiks” – Tagalog for illustrated comic books – because they have never known what it is. But how could we “young once” not miss it when it used to be the stuff that filled our leisure time?

A typical “komiks” in bygone times contained short stories, serialized novels, entertainment columns and comedy strips that showcased the collaborative talents of writers and illustrators. Each frame had a caption, illustration and words or thoughts of characters.

Art Geroche was one of those illustrators.

The gradual loss of readership – no thanks to the accessibility of audio-visual entertainment on TV and the Internet – ended the publication of comic books in our country at the break of the 21^st century.

As a “komiks” entertainment columnist in Metro Manila in the 1970s, I was one of those who lost substantial income due to loss of outlets for my showbiz potboilers. But since hope springs eternal, who knows?  Komiks could spring a comeback, as in Japan where each complete illustrated story called “manga” sells like hotcakes.

Dr. Jose Rizal must be turning in his grave. If you don’t know yet, it was our national hero who wrote and illustrated in 1885 the first illustrated Filipino fable, The Monkey and the Turtle, where the weak and slow turtle outwitted the stronger monkey over possession of a banana tree.

As a money-making industry, the mainstream “komiks” kicked off in the 1920s, when Liwayway magazine published a satirical comic strip, “Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy,” by writer-illustrator Tony Velasquez.

Kenkoy remained a very popular komiks character during my childhood years in the 1950s. So was the late Mars Ravelo’s Bondying, a grown-up who behaved and dressed like a baby.

The 1960s saw the emergence of other prolific “komiks” novelists like Nestor Redondo and Francisco V. Coching. While Redondo and Coching both wrote and illustrated their masterpieces, Mars Ravelo had to assign the illustrations to Redondo or someone else. But this handicap was a blessing in disguise that gave him time to maximize output of serialized novels for the weekly comic magazines. Moreover, his comic characters like Darna, Dyesebel. Bondying, Captain Barbell and Lastikman leaped to life in the movies, too.

While in high school, I would spare thirty centavos a week for a copy of my favorite Espesyal Komiks. I cried when, for unannounced reasons, Espesyal stopped publishing.

There were also Pinoy illustrators who broke into print in the American comic books in the 1970s.  I can still recall some of them: Tony DeZuniga, Alfredo Alcala, Mar Amongo, Ernie Chan, Alex Niño, Nestor Redondo, and our own Art Geroche of Pavia, Iloilo.

Geroche illustrated the Ilonggo novels of  the late national artist Ramon Muzones for Hiligaynon magazine.

I was lucky to have won the confidence of the late Rico Bello Omagap, komiks editor and novelist who, like Mars Ravelo, also sold novels to movie companies. He assigned me to write sequence treatments for his movie scripts.

Knowing that I was an entertainment reporter and ghost writer of an entertainment columnist, Omagap also assigned me a weekly entertainment column with my own by-line for two “komiks” of El Dorado Publications.

The 1970s saw the phenomenal rise of novelist-Illustrator Jim Fernandez, creator of the comic/movie character Zuma. He mixed business with pleasure by drawing comic frames between pin throws in a bowling alley.

Filipino newspapers and magazines in English rode on the bandwagon, with at least a page of cartoon strips per issue. The late illustrator Larry Alcala excelled in that medium.

By the turn of the century, unfortunately, circulation of Filipino “komiks” had diminished. One by one they gave up.

Today, komiks no longer show up in the newsstands.  What has become of the komiks-dependent writers and illustrators?

In our last conversation, Art claimed to have survived because he was also a canvas artist specializing in historical paintings, some of which are displayed at the mayor’s office on the 7^th floor of the Iloilo City Hall.

-oOo-

NEGROS POWER SPEEDS UP REHAB

WITHIN its first year of operation following a joint venture agreement with Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco), the Negros Electric and Power Corp. (Negros Power) has replaced almost 14,000 outdated electric meters across its franchise area.

It has resulted in drastic reduction of system’s loss down from 11.84 percent to only 8.03 percent, breaching the interim cap of 8.25 percent set by the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The dramatic drop signifies improved energy efficiency and reversal of losses due to electricity theft and system irregularities. The firm’s anti-pilferage campaign has disconnected 789  illegal connections and 1,156 unauthorized load-side connections.

Negros Power deployed 153 check meters and conducted monitoring in major barangays to swiftly detect anomalies, resulting in legal action with two criminal cases initially filed against persistent offenders.

In an interview by Nanette Guadalquiver of the Philippine News Agency, Negros Power president and chief executive officer Roel Z. Castro said, “Our strategy is clear: clean up the grid, modernize our systems, and uphold accountability.”

Negros Power distributes electricity to the cities of Bacolod, Silay, Talisay, and Bago, as well as the municipalities of Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia.