Vintage Philippine literary and movie magazines are rich references for identifying komiks serials that had been made into the movies.

I am very fortunate to acquire a good number of these old magazines from the 1920s to the 1950s, a rich minefield of information about our rich comics and movie heritage. Reading these vintage magazines provides me with the feeling of travelling through a Time Machine wherin I could get a glimpse of the olden days even decades before I was born.

My project on "Komiks and the Movies" is really getting exciting as I unearth more rare materials long since been considered extinct. As a komiks and magazine collector, I know how difficult it is to find these materials. Yet, through the years, I have not stopped hunting them in antique shops, Ebay auctions, flea markets, etc. Right now, I have more than 2,000 pieces of old Tagalog komiks and original comic art, and some 300 vintage magazines/songhits.

To my knowledge, there is no existing komiks library or gallery of comics and original comic art in the Philippines, or indeed anywhere else in the world. The National Library formerly has a good number of bound tomes of old komiks donated to them by Lope K. Santos, but all of these(save a two or three tomes) have mysteriously disappeared from their shelves.

The remaining two or three tomes are either in bad condition or very bad condition, with several pages torn or missing. It seemed that librarians have a discrimination towards comics, and they tend to treat it as reading materials "without research value". I found otherwise, reading komiks gives me a profound and unique look on Philippine culture I would not normally find on some boring textbooks.

Anyway, here are some more new finds for my project "komiks and the Movies". I will only concentrate on the Golden years of Philippine comics which, incidentally also coincides with the Golden years of Philippine movies (roughly the years 1947-72). It seemed that the fall of the komiks industry also advresely hurt the Philippine movie industry. I hope that this humble project finds itself in a pictorial book that is currently gestating in my mind.

Goldiger by Dominador Ad Castillo and Nestor Redondo. Serialized in the Manila Klasiks 1953

Oops, before we continue, let's give way to a little commercial from Ginebra San Miguel. The man on the ad says:"Ang Ginebra San Miguel at ako ay malaon ng magkaibigan, at ang aming pagsasamahan ay mananatili hanggang sa wakas ng panahon". Hehe Lasenggo pala ito.

Nemesio Caravana's Kambal sa Sinukuan. Serialized in the comics section of Ilang-Ilang Magazine 1951

Rosa Rossini by Mars Ravelo. Serialized in the Espesyal Komiks, 1959

Severino Reyes' Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang first appeared as prose fiction in the Liwayway in 1923. These wonderful stories were later adapted into comics by Severino Reyes' son, Pedrito Reyes, in the Tagalog Klasiks Komiks.

A commercial from our sponsor, Omega watches. Only 22 pesos in 1923. From the Lipang Kalabaw magazine 1923. Call La Estrella del Norte department store at tel #250 or #251. Offer is good while supplies last. Magkano kaya ang buong tindahan ng La Estrella del Norte noon, gusto ko ng bilhin e sa sobrang mura.

Tumbando Cana by Mars Ravelo. Serialized in the Tagalog Klasiks Komiks, 1956

Double-Cross by Francisco V. Coching. Serialized in the Espesyal Komiks, 1956.

Another advertisement, this time from the old reliable Alhambra Regaliz Mahaba. This cigarillo is a favorite of old women in the provinces who smoke it with the burning end inside their mouths while chewing Nga-nga or playing tong-its, hehe. Only 30 centavos per pack in 1954.

Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo by Amado Yasona and Hugo Yonzon. Serialized in the Mabuhay Komiks 1952. This movie received the first ever FAMAS Best Picture Award in 1952.

Anak ng Bulkan by Jose Domingo Karasig. Serialized in the comics section of the Liwayway, 1959. I have watched this movie several times during its reruns in Channel 5 on afternoon weekends. Starring Fernando Poe Jr. Poignant story of a little boy's friendship with a gentle giant bird. The little boy was Ace Vergel as a kid.

4 comments:

 Anonymous said...

Hi Dennis,

I will wait for that pictorial book in the bookstand.

BTW, aside the Kenkoy book, don't you have other pubished books on Philippine comics?

Thanks and more power!

10:11 PM

 Dennis Villegas said...

Dado: thanks, the Kenkoy book was the first book published by your truly.

4:52 PM

 E. S. de Montemayor said...

hi! i can't help but wonder if there is really value in old comics. i had these bound 70s comics on the history of the philippines, lives or rizal, philippine legends that were published by philipine bookstore, and bound women's magazines of my tita from 1959-1960 where there were comics by larry alcala and by artists of a similar streak. are there any value in these?

4:18 AM

 Ding said...

gandang araw po!

gusto ko po sanang humingi ng tulong. baka po meron kayong mga related lits diyan hinggil naman sa kasaysayan ng editorial cartooning sa bansa. baka po pwedeng makahiram, o makahingi.

ako po ay isang freelancer na pamatnugutang kartunista.