In Philippine lower mythology, the Kapre occupies a fascinating niche among the dark creatures of the night. The Kapre is invariably described as a gigantic man-like creature who had a passion for smoking tobacco. It is said to usually reside among tall and bushy trees just like the much dreaded Balite tree. According to old folks, the Kapre usually terrorizes bypassers at night, who happened to cross his tree while on the way to wakes, or going to haranas.
In the story below, Alex Nino illustrated his conception of how the Kapre looked like. This story was written by Carlo J. Caparas, and it was published in Pablo S. Gomez' United Komiks in late 1960s. This story is actually an episode of a very popular series in United Komiks called "Mga Kuwento ni Bruhilda"(Tales of Bruhilda Witch).
I loved the way Nino had drawn these "Bruhilda" stories. He was still a young artist then, and basically uninfluenced by foreign artists, so I could say that his drawing style then was raw and more natural. It was also a time when he had not gone deeper into experimentations. Yet, even then, Nino was already considered out of the mainstream style, dominated by Nestor Redondo and Francisco Coching. It was obvious that Nino was well ahead of his times, so that many local komiks editors failed to understand his genius. But then, two influential editors managed to give Nino his much needed break: Tony Velasquez of GASI and Pablo S. Gomez of PSG Publications. Of course it was Tony Velasquez who gave Nino his first illustrating job in GASI in 1966 with Velasquez' own stories "Mikrobyo", "Gamu-Gamo", and "Three Sisters". Nino's artworks for these stories were very accomplished .
Pablo S. Gomez also hitched his luck with Nino by giving him a regular illustrating job in the "Bruhilda" series. Both Velasquez and Gomez were full of praise for the magnificent artworks Nino had produced for them, a fact that irritated one komiks editor, with whom Nino had an earlier misunderstanding. From then on, Nino and Gomez would collaborate on sveral stories and novels, many of which even became highly succesful movies starring Filipino action star Fernando Poe, Jr.
So here then is one story from those popular "Bruhilda" stories from the 1960s. You will love to see how the hero of this story defeated the Kapre!
Enjoy the Halloween!
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