October 24, 2006

CELEBRATING 120 YEARS OF KOMIKS FROM THE PHILIPPINES II: THE FUTURE OF KOMIKS
Mood:  celebratory
by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

The United States acquired the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish-American War of 1898.

Therefore, it’s undeniable that the Americans had a huge effect on komiks in the Philippines as the nation was under the U.S. rule at the turn of the 20th century.

In the concluding chapter of our 2-part series on Philippines komiks, we take a look at the current state of the industry.

Today, there are new players that get to publish/release new titles on a more frequent basis. “Mango Comics and Nautilus Comics have their bi-monthly comic books,” Budjette Tan explained. “A comic book called Culture Crash also energized the scene with the anime-inspired comic book anthology. The publishers of Culture Crash later organized two comic book/anime/cosplay events that brought thousands of fans together.

“The group Artist’s Den launched the first Manila Komikon last year and already in the works of organizing this year’s event (to be held in Quezon City on October 21). The Komikon successfully brought together generations of comicbook creators.

“A couple of years ago, Adarna Publications, one of the Philippine’s successful publisher of children’s books ventured into publishing graphic novels,” he added. “Their titles: Arnold Arre’s After Eden and Mythology Class have done well, in terms of sales and critical acclaim. Another publisher, Visual Print Publications, also dipped their feet in the comicbook publishing arena with Carlo Vergara's "Ang Kagilagilalas Na Pakikipagsapalaran Ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah" graphic novel. That title was in National Bookstores' Top 20 list a couple of months ago. Its story has already been adopted into a musical and will soon be seen as a full-length feature. Read more!