The 2009 Philippine Blog Awards

I just would like to take a short moment to announce (belatedly) that my photoblog dennisvillegas.blogspot.com and this blog Pilipino Komiks made it to the finals of the recently held 2009 Philippine Blog Awards. This blog emerged as Special Award Winner for Best Filipiniana Blog. This was my very first blog established way back in 2004.

Meanwhile my blogpost in this blog The Diving Boys of Quezon Bridge was chosen as one of the Top Ten Blog Posts of the Year, out of the hundreds that had competed. I actually submitted a few posts including my Suicidal Jeepney Ride to Miagao, The Street Sleepers of Downtown Manila, Master Anos: The Exorcist, Petron Gonzales: Faith Healer and Rugby Sessions. But of them all, I thought that my Palito interview would have the best chance of winning. I still consider it as the best piece of writing and reportage I have ever done. But alas, the judges did not think it was my best post!

Honestly, I had not expected to win anything but I attended the event just the same so I can finally meet the people behind the blogs that I truly admired. Some of them are Sidney Snoeck of My Sari-Sari Store (Winner of Best Foreign Blog), Dong of Dong's Eskapo, Lino of Lino Photography, Ferdz of Ironwulf.net, and Allan Barredo of Lantaw.com.

Lastly, I would like to thank you my dear readers, followers, and fellow bloggers for visiting my site often. I would also like to thank the lurkers who sometimes email me (rather than post comments) that they like this post and that. You all give me me more inspiration and drive to write and report more about people, places, events and chismis.

*For the complete list of PBA 2009 winners, please click here

For the Love of the Tagalog Komiks

For as long as I can remember, I have loved komiks and the entire experience of reading Tagalog komiks. When I was growing up, to help me in my reading, my father always bought me komiks. Our old house in Cubao was near the GASI offices in 18th Avenue, and there my father would buy back issues of Pinoy Komiks, Aliwan, Pinoy Klasiks, Pioneer, and those horde of komiks magazines being published by GASI.

There were plenty of horror komiks magazines during those times, with prices ranging from 75 centavos to 1 peso. I was very attracted to komiks with horrifying drawings. I remember quite clearly Devil Car by Vic Poblete, Cannibal by Jim Fernandez, Goomboo Roomboo by Mars Ravelo, and The Hands by Hal Santiago.

Yet, the beauty of Tagalog Komiks is the diversity it offered its readers. In an issue of Aliwan Komiks, for instance, the pages are alternately filled with horror serials, love shorts, fun page, cartoon strips, action, melodrama, etc. It catered to all people of different tastes and ages. Nothing is limited in the imagination and the komiks provide the reader to navigate their fantasies with them.

Tony Velasquez, Father of the Tagalog Komiks.
He created Kenkoy in 1929--the very first cartoon character in Asia.

(Dennis Villegas collection)

Sometimes when we didn't have enough money, we just rented komiks from a Sari-sari store in the neighborhood. The komiks were all lined up like sinampay in front of the store, and there we would rent for 20 centavos each for the latest issues. The rent time was only three hours so we better read immediately.

In the 1980s, with some money saved from my school allowance, I began buying komiks on my own. There really wasn't any value on them, but I thought I would like to put into folders my favorite komiks magazines. What fascinated me was the idea of having something tangible to be able to browse on rainy afternoons, rather than make them into pambalot ng tinapa or fuel for our cooking stove. I didn't realize then that I was starting a collection.

Ang Alipin ni Hogarta
(Dennis Villegas collection)

Basahang Ginto by Mars Ravelo and Elpidio Torres.
The 1950s komiks were excellent reading and visual materials

(Dennis Villegas collection)

Ironically, I stopped buying komiks during the mid 1980s. I may have been occupied with school, and certainly during those times, my interest in komiks somewhat waned, possibly due to the fact that there were other hobbies I could concentrate on. My father went to Saudi Arabia (and back then, it seemed that all other fathers were in Saudi Arabia). When my father came back, he brought with him chocolates, a stereo component, several cassette tapes, and a very interesting toy called Game and Watch, a pocket game in which a helicopter drops a marine solder into the sea and my task is to catch the guy in my boat or he drowns or eaten by an octopus. The game was the start of the computer craze that was to dominate the youth's interest in those times.

When I finally had a regular job, I went back into collecting komiks. As far as I know, very few people collected Tagalog komiks, and so I was challenged to collect only Tagalog komiks. I never cared for Batman, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, or Superman. I wanted Darna, Bondying, Kenkoy, Tsikiting Gubat, Ponyang Halobaybay, Panthomanok, Kalabog en Bosyo, Zuma, or Mahimud Ali. My main objective was to collect the oldest possible komiks magazines.

Bomba Komiks: Adult-oriented komiks

(Dennis Villegas collection)

Since our house was just very near the GASI and ATLAS compound, I started inquiring if they had back issues willing to sell. But the General Manager Deo Alvarez bluntly told me that their back issues were not for sale. I was allowed to see the collection, though, and to my horror, I found that their great collection of komiks was stored in a damp and humid warehouse without proper ventilation. And so up to this day, Atlas compound has the largest un-inventorized Tagalog komiks collection in the world, where the komiks are already in a state of decomposition. I give a few years and this magnificent collection will be destroyed by the elements if not given proper care.

But then, fortunately, I had other sources of komiks.

Vir Redondo was a friend of my father's, and at that time, he was frequenting GASI to sell some of his old komiks. He sold me some of his collections before he died. I also purchased many bound komiks from the late Tony Velasquez, Tony Tenorio and Pablo S. Gomez. People told me I was crazy because I was spending all my salary into all these komiks magazines. Yet I give thanks to my parents who supported my passion and even loaned me money to purchase collections.

In the late 1990s, I discovered that some komiks were being sold in local auctions for 100-200 pesos each. I couldn't afford many but I thought this was my chance to build my collection. Thankfully, auction prices never went high than their initial prices simply because nobody, back then, was buying komiks. I was the only crazy one.

This general lack of interest in komiks has what led me to take interest in preserving this cultural richness of this unique literary and visual artform. As far as I'm concerned, the Philippines has the richest komiks culture in Asia, and possibly in the whole world. No country had a richer comics culture than the Philippines. Our komiks was not only a reflection of our people's fantasies, but a mirror of our mores, our sufferings, our history, our beliefs, and our religion.

By the start of the year 2000, I had accumulated so much komiks materials that I decided to sell the duplicates, and I used the money to buy more komiks and, this time, original art. In time I was able to open a komiks gallery in Cubao, was able to reprint the first comic book in the Philippines, and opened this blog--all for the benefit of cultural awareness of the importance of Tagalog komiks.

Anastacio Caedo, Sculptor Par Excellence

Anastacio Caedo (14 August 1907 - 12 May 1990) was one of the Philippines' greatest sculptors.

Professor Caedo served as the long-time assistant and protege of the late GUILLERMO TOLENTINO. He assisted Professor Tolentino in executing the famous U.P Oblation statue in 1932, in which Caedo himself was the model. This was because the young Caedo possessed a lean and muscular physique. Tolentino later relegated the task of building the other Oblation figures in U.P. Baguio, Los Banos, and Manila, to Caedo.

Professor Caedo became head of the Sculpture division of the UP College of Fine Arts for the longest time from 1957 up to early 1980s. His students included Eduardo Castrillo, Abdulmari Imao, and Jose Arcilla.

Professor Caedo is well-known as a monument builder, and he created more monuments around the world than any other Filipino sculptor. These include: The MacArthur Landing site in Leyte, the Mabini Monument in Manila, the Bonifacio monument in Pugad Lawin (near the Balintawak-EDSA intersection), the Juan Luna Monument in Madrid, The Quezon monument inside the Quezon City Hall, the Aguinaldo monument in Malolos, the Ninoy Aquino monument in Ayala, The Chief Kipua monument in Guam, Raha Sulayman monument at the UP Vargas Museum, the Rizal monuments in Heidelberg and Wilhelmsfeld, the Rizal busts in the Philippine embassies, the Death March memorial in Tarlac, and many many others.


Original Rizal bust in white marble, found at Anastacio Caedo's original atelier

Professor Caedo is also known as a meticulous portrait sculptor. His clients included Presidents Aguinaldo, Osmena, Quirino, Quezon, Aquino, and Marcos. He also created several statues of saints like St. Joseph the Carpenter, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Grace, St. Thomas Moore. Among his many commissioned works are several portrait busts of famous movie stars (Vilma Santos, Fernando Poe, Sr., Nestor De Villa, Jess Lapid, etc.), as well as politicians, clergymen, and businessmen. His fine sculptures have been collected by museums, galleries, and art connoisseurs around the world.

A marble Our Lady of Lourdes Sculpture by Professor Caedo

A humble and self-effacing man, Professor Caedo refused several times the nomination to become a National Artist in 1983, 1984, and 1986.

He died in 1990 at the age of 83.

The Risen Christ by Anastacio Caedo

The Risen Christ is a long lost work of the late noted sculptor Anastacio Caedo (1900-1986), protege and long-time assistant of Guillermo Tolentino. This was awarded Gold Medal in the Art Exposition (sculpture category) of 1966 held at The Plaza.

The Risen Christ sculpture is made of marble dust and stands at 1 and 1/2 feet tall. I think that it is one of the most beautiful Christ sculptures I have ever seen. I do not always collect sculptures, but when Caedo's heirs finally decided to let it have a new home, I knew exactly that it would be mine. It had brought great blessings in my life thereafter.

Professor Anastacio Caedo is also known as the sculptor of several important historical monuments around the world, a few of which are the MacArthur Landing site in Leyte, the Death March Memorial in Capas Tarlac, the Jose Rizal monuments in Heidelberg and Wilhelmsfeld Germany, and the Juan Luna monument in Madrid, Spain.

Early Philippine Cartoons

Jorge Pineda and Fernando Amorsolo belonged to the first generation of Filipino cartoonists to have emerged during the early years of the American occupation. Most of their cartoons were published in popular news magazines like the Free Press, The Independent, Lipang Kalabaw, and Telembang. Amorsolo and Pineda, of course, eventually developed into great painters that somehow overshadowed their massive body of cartoon works.

When art patronage became a fashion among the elite during the 1920s, Amorsolo and Pineda eventually gave up doing caricatures and concentrated on painting portraits of rich people and commissioned landscapes, which was of course, more profitable. This shift in art, though, can hardly deny the fact that in the 1920s, the Philippines may have the two most talented batch of cartoonists ever to have graced the pages of news and comic magazines.

The cartoon strips shown below are a typical example of elegant Philippine cartoons from these two great cartoonists. The first is by Fernando Amorsolo, and the second by Jorge Pineda.


Simbang Tanan by F. Amorsolo





Balasubas sa Diario by J. Pineda

Early Ruben Yandoc Work (1951)

Here is one of Ruben Yandoc's early works in Hiwaga Komiks dating back to 1951. I consider Yandoc to be one of the most interesting illustrators during the Golden Age of Komiks in the Philippines. His unique style was earlier influenced by Redondo, but he managed to develop the style into uniquely his own.

Yandoc was at his best when illustrating fantasy and horror stories, the kind of which I consider Philippine gothic. It was a very popular genre in the early years of komiks in the Philippines.

The story below is an example of the beautifully rendered art and storytelling abilities of Ruben Yandoc. (Please click on the images to view the larger images)

Early Floro Dery Work from 1964

I recently unearthed from my old Bulaklak komiks collection this 1964 work of Filipino illustrator Floro Dery. Dery is one of my favorite komiks illustrators. I was surprised that Dery was also illustrating for Bulaklak during the time when Alex Nino was also starting his career there as apprentice to the great Jess Jodloman, who was then Bulaklak's chief artist.

Looking back to 1964, this comics illustration by Dery(see below), is done in the Redondoesque style of drawing that was popular during those times, a style created, of course, by Nestor Redondo.

By the way, Dr. Dery has a wonderful website in which he showcases his recent drawings and illustrations. These beautiful illustrations manifest Mr. Dery's passion for exaggeration and depth in his drawings, a point he repeatedly expounds as the basis for his unique style. You can visit his website here.

(Click images below to enlarge)

Spot the Difference

Oh no, I've been browsing my old piles of komiks and saw these:

Pilipino Komiks #47, 1949. Cover art by Francisco V. Coching



Pilipino Komiks #195, 1954. Cover art by Alfredo Alcala



Super Action Komiks#169, 1988. Cover art by Franklin Batolinao.

My only question is: is it really possible to rescue a woman in that position while riding in a horseback? My personal opinion is that it would cause injuries to the woman.