WARNING: I did my best to keep everything as clear and as concise as possible, but it's still a pretty long read. I tried to be as objective as I can in tackling the issues, and I apologize in advance if at times it doesn't seem like it.  If you can print this article out, do so. It's better to read this on paper than on the monitor, I don't want you straining your eyes over this.

Filipino Comics and Everything in Between

Sigh, here we go again….

It has been a subject of endless debates here in the Philippines and on the Internet. Everyone has a point, and every point is debatable… the proverbial chicken and egg scenario. I'm here to crack a few eggs of my own.

So, what is Filipino Comics?
My previous definition for Filipino Comics is waaay too broad for it to make any solid meaning. Just for the record, I'm stating it again:

1. It is done by a Filipino.
2. It is made for the Filipino.
3. It elicits Filipino pride.

I've decided to take out number 1, since you don't need to be a Filipino to create Filipino comics, and conversely, you don't need to be American to create American comics. Number 3 is definitely out since pride is highly subjective.  So, I came to this conclusion:

Filipino comics are comics created primarily for Filipino consumption.

Yes, I know this is a very utilitarian description of what Filipino comics are. I chose to describe it as such because I believe that comics are first and foremost, a product meant for entertainment. It is an art form, of course, and it's a powerful medium to convey nationalistic ideals and socio-political concerns, but in the end, it is still a product meant for mass consumption.

To elaborate, here's my rundown of what and what isn't Filipino comics based on my analysis:
· Bangketa komiks is comics made for the Filipino masses. (Bangketa means street side in Filipino colloquialism, citing the venue where these comics can be bought)
· Reprinted American comics sold in the Philippines is still American comics, because it's primary audience are Americans.
· Comics made for the Internet are called as it is: Web comics. The distinction that it is a Filipino web comics comes when the web comics is primarily targeted for Filipinos… ie. It is in a language only Filipinos would understand, the subject matter or humor is something only a Filipino would get… etc.
· If I created comics here and exported it overseas, is it a Filipino comic? Yes, if it was sold here first and your primary target audience are Filipinos.
· Let's say I create an independent comic book here in the Philippines. I drew it in a style… say like Jim Lee. I sold it to my friends for forty bucks… then I just sold a Filipino comic.
· Hmmm…  I'm a Filipino who draws manga for 7 Seas Entertainment a US based company; what kind of comic am I drawing then?
Of course, I'm drawing an American comic or an American manga to be more precise, since 7 Seas' primary target audience are Americans.   


Then what in the world is a Filipino manga?
Well, I guess that's what you call Filipino comics drawn in a manga style. Culture Crash Comics is an example of this.

(Note: Culture Crash did not coin the term "Filipino manga." People just began calling it that because of its obvious influences. We used the term "Manga-inspired Filipino Comics" which I think is more appropriate because it is exactly as the name implies.)

So, if I use manga style to draw a Filipino comic, does that mean I am so "obsessed on this medium, without knowing that I am embracing and promoting another culture instead of our own?"  What does that statement really mean? More on that a bit later.
   
I hope that clears things up on what or what not a Filipino comics is… Now here's where things begin to get complicated:


Filipino Comic Style?
This is the subject of the great debate. Everyone has an idea what it is, yet no one can quantifiably pin point what it truly is. Is it the anatomy? The eyes?  Is it the wispy strokes of ink that make up the page? Is it the horror vacuii (fear of empty space) in the composition?  The realism?

If we say that Nestor Redondo's and his peers' art style are THE unquestionable and penultimate embodiment of what a Filipino comic book art is, then we are strictly limiting what "Filipino style" looks like.

Arnold Arre, Carlo Vergara, Leinil Yu, Gilbert Monsanto, Wilson Tortosa and Ryan Orosco's artwork look unique from each other and nothing like Redondo's. Does this make their artwork less Filipino? What about people who didn't grow up reading the great Filipino comics masters' works? Is it their fault that they draw differently?

I am aware that we, as a people, have a deep and rich comics history. It is unfortunate that the works of the great masters were lost (there are VERY few who choose to archive Filipino comics), and I admire the efforts of individuals who bring their works to a new generation of artists.

It was only through Mr. Alanguilan's website that I got to see what the classic art style of the great masters looked. I am truly grateful to him for giving me the opportunity. If only our local comic industry stayed as strong as it was 30- 40 years ago until the present, then we'd be looking at a possible emergence of a "group style" as distinct as those of the Japanese comics. But the fact still remains that our comic industry continually waned throughout the decades until it died out sometime in the late 90's.

I believe this is the reason why we as a people haven't actually developed a "group style" that some of us truly crave for. The American style as we all know, more closely resembles the classic Philippine comic art styles of Redondo and company, because at some point in history they did influence and be interwoven in the look of American comics. (I guess that's why we don't have any trouble accepting US art styles as our own.) Now with the introduction of manga into the equation, artists now have more options from which their artworks would evolve. This makes the possibility of having a "group style" even less likely.

The Manga Equation
Some people fear that by accepting manga, we are blindly accepting and promoting a culture other than our own. I find this strange and utterly unfounded. It is just an art style of a medium that is called comics... just as cubism or impressionism is to painting.

Take for example, Picasso is Spanish.  Picasso propagated cubism.  Does this make cubism a Spanish art form?  Is cubist art a Spanish "group art?"  This is non-sequitur.  It does not follow.  A culture is not entirely defined by JUST the style.  And vice versa.

Is it because the "group style"-manga comes from a very distinct culture…  so strong in fact that we would automatically equate everything manga- Japanese?

I had a chat with my fiancée once about Filipino comic book artists. I named a couple of artists and asked her if she thinks their works look "Filipino" or not. I started off with Arnold Arre- she said No… Carlo Vergara? Yes…  Elmer Damaso? No… Wilson Tortosa? maybe a little… Me? No… Gerry Alanguilan? Yes… Michael David? Yes… She clearly had an idea in her mind what Filipino comic art looks like and yet, when I asked her what it was, she can't pinpoint what IT exactly is.

I then began to analyze the artworks of the artists. It would seem that the more identifiable the nationality of the characters are in the comic book, the more Filipino it becomes. All of the artists that she said "yes" to, all drew comic characters with highly detailed faces whose features can be easily recognized as Filipinos. (I feel like Adrian Monk, haha!)

It actually makes sense because if you drew a Filipino character in manga style, say Darna, she loses all the identifiable marks that would make her look Filipino. Heck, she'd probably lose all identifiable marks that would link her to a homo sapien. She'd have a clean tapered jaw line, unusually wide eyes instead of small rounded eyes, small lips, and a small pointed nose instead of a flatter one. The over simplification of the manga style (yes, yes, I know, not all manga style art is oversimplified) makes the nationality of a character very difficult to judge… if not next to impossible.

Manga has been so intertwined with the Japanese culture and it was only recently that it made its presence felt globally. This is probably one of the reasons why we automatically assume a comic book character's nationality, if drawn in the manga style, is Japanese… even if it looks nowhere near a Japanese. I guess it's even harder still to accept that a "Japanese" looking comic character talks Tagalog, or he wears a salakot and an itak, huh?


Of Fads and Influence: The Evolution of my Comic Art Style
The local comics industry was almost extinct by the 90's. Why is that?  Because Filipino comics cannot compete with other escapist endeavors like listening to the radio, watching soap operas, malling or going to the movies.  Remember, the Filipino comics started to become massively popular after World War II; with so much destruction from the war, the only form of entertainment accessible and affordable to people were comics.  So as time progressed, other entertainment industries (cinema, radio, and Tagalog Romance novels, etc.) provided the Filipino with other choices.  

In a harsher reality, local comics factory treated their employees (both writers and artists) like slaves.  The pay was so pitiful.  To an extent that their salaries did not increase across the decade.  Ergo, thinking that because of the demand, the comics industry indulged by just focusing on the comics' quantity and not the quality.  Because of this, local talent have begun an exodus for greener pastures, seeking the dollars of the big comics companies abroad instead of the pathetic falling peso here.  This is still going on as I type this.  As you are reading this, there could be a Filipino artist or two or more out there looking for a comics-related job on the Internet from those who are willing to pay in dollars.

With the lack of local input, artists and Filipino comic fans tend to look outside the Philippines for inspiration. The rise of Marvel, DC and the flashy Image comics sparked a revolution in local comic art. We discover for the first time that there are Filipinos like Whilce Portacio and Alex Niño who work for US companies and we try to emulate their examples, their art style, hoping against hope that one day, maybe we may get into the big leagues like them.

There was a revival in the local comic scene as well. Alamat, a local comic book group was formed.  I remember this fondly because it was then that I realized that there were so many groups interested in the craft. I saw their comics and bought their stuff religiously. I also remember a local publication called Kick Fighter Komiks, and most of the artworks inside were Marvel, DC or Image comics inspired as well.  

Then I decided to draw comics.

Just like everybody else, I drew superhero-themed comics with the "Jim Lee style." It was the "fad" in those days. I remember making an American vigilante/ superhero comic book set in New York City. The protagonist of course is invincible and super strong and wielded lots of high powered guns, which is actually handy since he fights crimes in the back alleys Manhattan. (Cheesy, yes I know.) Eventually, I graduated from that and began drawing my own local Filipino superheroes... except of course they still have that 6-foot, Caucasian, super athlete body-type, only their faces look Filipino (or I think they did), which, come to think of it, looked rather strange.  

Then came Manga.

At first, I didn't know what to make of it. It's black and white, printed on coarse paper, and drawn in a style that looked so cartoonish. The first time I saw battle Angel Alita, I thought she looked real ugly because of her pouty lips and big glassy eyes. But when I read it, it was far more cinematic and adult oriented than anything I've ever seen before. It intrigued me because I never thought that such a "childish" looking art style could carry such impact. It's like watching a movie, only on paper. It was then that I realized that, yes; this is the direction I want to go in developing my comic style.

Then I drew manga.

Just like anyone who's engrossed with the style, at first, I made comics with Japanese characters as my heroes, with names like Ichigo and Naoko. The more I studied manga, the more engrossed I became with the Japanese culture… I was into the "Japanese culture fad"… I studied katakana, hiragana, and kanji just to make sense of the Japanese manga I bought. I even signed my name in Japanese. I tried Japanese food for the first time. I ate raw fish. I ate takoyaki (which at first I thought tasted much like pre-chewed food… eww.)

Then I lost interest in all of it in about 6 months or so.
I got hooked on the "L5R and Magic fad."

Then came Culture Crash Comics. I was finally given the chance to write and draw my very own story. By now, my artwork has evolved in a bizarre mix of manga with a touch of Marvel style on the side... but it was nowhere near complete. Jim Lee was still there in my head… so was Hiroaki Samura… Whilce Portacio… Yukito Kishiro… and a whole bunch of influences I had throughout the years I studied comics. I took bits and pieces of information from every comic book I saw, took the elements that I liked and jammed it in to my style. It resulted in a style I am most comfortable with and is unique to myself. It doesn't look like any of my influences and when people look at it, they know at a glance that I drew it. But, like most artists, I'm not stopping there. My art still continues to evolve now as I find new influences.

So, what's the point of telling my life story?

I guess it's because I am an artist and as such, I choose what influences me. I maybe engrossed in a "fad" but that doesn't necessarily mean I am giving up my whole life, or culture for that matter, for the pursuit of a passing fancy. Yes, I became engrossed in the Japanese culture, but that doesn't mean I'm not proud to be a Filipino. It's not like we have limited disk spaces in our brains that once we immerse ourselves in a foreign culture we have to get rid of the other one.

I see many young manga-inspired artists out there who take Japanese characters as the main protagonists for their stories. I've been through that phase, and I know it will pass. This phase is quite important for our artists to discover their own style eventually.  Some may take longer than others, others may take decades… but eventually the artist in you will crave for something more. Trust me.


The Bottom Line
In the end, I guess it all boils down to choice. Every minute of every day there's a choice to be made. You choose to be a kapuso or a kapamilya, you choose not to eat takoyaki, you choose to be a Buddhist, you choose to eat sushi, you choose to draw manga style, or you choose to draw western style. It's not an issue of consumption or creation. It's simply a matter of choice. As artists, we have a right to choose what we see fit for our style. No one can take that away from us.

Manga is a very powerful art style. It does not follow the norms set by American or European comics and has evolved solely on its own. To disregard manga as a possible evolutionary step to your art style just because it is "distinctly Japanese" would be a folly, as you would be denying yourself the opportunity of learning new ways of presenting your comics. Who knows, maybe in time, we may develop a national "group style" akin to manga yet totally different because of the diverse art influences that we have at our disposal. In a sense, we are blessed since we have an assortment of influences that we can choose from in the development of our art.

Comic Artists of a Reviving Industry  
The sad fact is… our local comic book industry has long met its end. There are only a handful of us drawing comics, and even fewer still who release their comics or indies in the market. Almost everyone knows anyone in the industry. We meet each other at conventions and events but turn a blind eye to each other because of petty issues such as art style. There's already a rift between traditionalists, manga-influenced artists, and even cartoonists and it hurts what's left of our pitiful industry. If we are to ever hope to see a revival in the industry, let's put an end to all these bickering about what must be or could've been… and just do what we do best. Let's draw comics!

Live free!
Taga-ilog
Melvin Calingo

EDIT: To everyone asking what happened to Culture Crash, please visit my journal entry >> [link] Thanks.