I recently looked up at the website Lambiek.net and found to my surprise that the biography of the Father of Philippine Komiks, Tony Velasquez, was not included in their profiles. Since there are literally thousands of comics artists in the world (past and present), the Dutch website usually relies on information given to them by artists themselves, or artists' families or friends.

A few months ago, a copy of Action Comics #1 had been auctioned off in eBay. Although the seller did not put a reserved price, at the end of the auction the comics reached a staggering amount of 45,000 U.S. dollars, despite the fact that the copy is not a very nice one and had been graded only 4 by CNC. The reason why this comic book is so expensive is because it is the first true Batman comic book, wherein the caped crusader first appeared.

In the olden days, when the almighty Television had not yet invaded the privacy of our homes, the komiks and the radyo-nobela were the favorite pastimes of the Filipinos.

Komiks had been an influential part of my childhood. My Tatay taught me how to read through komiks, and I learned easily and excitingly because I love the drawings in them, in contrast to my elementary textbooks that are not only hard and boring to read, but its scant drawings were unattractive and amateurish.

Happy Halloween!

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.