http://www.komikero.com/musuem

I'm deeply hurt that you would contend that I do it for the money and not for the love of it. That's because that is so far from the truth.

Inspite of my work abroad, I take great pains to do work right here in the Philippines. A lot of my work are currently seeing publication in several publications and comics.

In fact, most of my work for 2006 will be for publication right here in the country. I won't make much money from some of them. In fact, there is one here that I probably won't make money out of at all (although I hope I do. I have to eat too, after all). Here is a graphic list of my work for 2006:

http://komikero.com/2006projects.html

Why would I do so much work for far less pay locally if I didn't love it? Why did I decline inking Ultimate Wolverine and Hulk for Marvel (it was offered to me) and opt instead to do comics right here in the Philippines if I did it for the money? I guess I'm just stupid, or maybe I just love Philippine comics with such a passion that my heart breaks.

And I seriously object to the blanket judgment that anyone who does work abroad can't possibly love what they're doing. Your father did, but I'm sure he loved doing it as much as everyone else.

Many of these artists who do work abroad carry the name of the Philippines, and they do all of us honor with the work that they do. They make us proud when they get selected to do such characters like Superman, Batman, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four. Filipinos. Take note... FILIPINOS like you and me are drawing them right now. That is a great thing. A Fantastic thing! And it should be something to be proud of. I know most of them, and I tell you this, they love comics with a passion that can't ever be measured.

4:21 AM

 Gerry Alanguilan said...

Corrected link to the comics museum:

http://www.komikero.com/museum/

4:23 AM

 kumukulong-putik said...

Tama si Mr.Art sa pagsasabing "Its all westernized and japanized" ang komiks industry. Tapos they dont play the Filipino Culture because they are just spoofing those great foreign works pa. Whats cool na nakikita ko sa Golden Age Komiks noon is its all "Filipino". Great Filipino Titles tapos ay matalinghaga magsalita.

Sayang ang mga pamana sa atin ng Ginintuang Komiks!

6:51 AM

 kumukulong-putik said...

Hindi ko nga lang nagustuhan ang sinabing comic artist are working just for Money...

Whats cool ngayon is itinataguyod ng mga bagong henerasyon ng Comics Artist ang galing ng Pinoy sa komiks sa ibang bansa. Mayroong GHG na may tiwala sa galing ng Dibuhistang Pinoy...

Ang nakapanghihinayang lang ay karamihan sa Pilipino'y may maling pananaw sa Sining ng Komiks...Sayang!

Parang me mali ako sa sinabi ko kanina ah! Oops! Sory! Hindi po kayong mga artist sinasabihan kong japanised or westernized iyong kadalasan lang sa ating industriya ngayon.

7:05 AM

 Anonymous said...

Gerry is a major and active proponent of preserving Philippine comics heritage. I think the opinions of the uninformed gentleman above reflects his ignorance and quiet possibly his jealousy towards the success of Gerry and his fellow artists.

Just because you father is a has-been doesn't make it fair that you bash present day artists like Gerry who's sincere efforts in building and educating the Komiks community have been going on for many years now. Could you say the same for your obscure artist Dad?

6:46 PM

 Dennis Villegas said...

To everyone concerned: Kindly refrain from attacking on a personal level. We all love komiks so it's great to have a debate or an opinionated discussion about it, but don't take it too personal. Mr. FlipMcGee your last comment is too personal I had almost wanted to delete it, but I will let it pass to let people know I don't tolerate childish reactions such as this.

Like you, I am an admirer of Gerry, but I don't think he will be pleased if he reads your comment. He is a fair and sensible man, and your defense of him on such a childish way only messes the issue. Certainly, Gerry had already made his point, he explained his side intelligently, like I expected him to, and I know Mr. Geroche had already read and understood that.

8:11 PM

 Anonymous said...

Why call comic books "komiks" in the first place? Just so it sounds Filipino? Shouldn't this be a medium that is global in nature and shouldn't it be treated as such?

What is a comic book? According to wikipedia a comic book is "a magazine or book containing sequential art in the form of a narrative. Comic books are often called comics for short." Comics are for telling stories. Good brain-exercising stories. Doesn't matter if you're Filipino, American, Japanese or anything, just tell your stories and let your readers enjoy them.

Personally I find the artists on local Filipino comics draw the finest looking pages on God's green earth. Then I read the story they're telling and it leaves me empty. I'm sorry but 7 out of 10 of the stories I read I can watch on television (which really isn't saying much for the writers), and the other 3 leaves much to desire. And I have to disagree with webcomics as not being the future for this medium. I have more insights reading a crudely drawn but well-written comic strip than a Michaelangelo page illustrating a nauseatingly undigestable story to begin with.

9:12 PM

 Anonymous said...

Art G. here, Mr. Alanguilan,

My sincere apologies if my comments offended you but I speak out of honesty and sincerity no malice intended. Please allow me to do so again.

Let's not kid ourselves. With the amount of dollars earned from abroad by local comics artists working on X-Men, Batman, etc. transposed later on to pesos, I'm sure these local artists REALLY love working for foreign comics and consequently emulate such work even in the local work that they do which, forgive me for disagreeing, do not really reflect the culture and experiences shared by most people in the Philippines. You may see some skill here and there but at the end of the day, I can't really say I'm reading, much less enjoying, a real Filipino comic. Maybe its a generational thing. I don't know.

I have visited the blog sites you mentioned and I have observed that your comics projects for 2006 are for the foreign market (Plague of Ghosts) and the rest local (Fudge Magazine, Mwahaha, Alamat) and a webcomic. I have no knowledge of how much these jobs pay but if you say they are "low" compared to the dollar equivalent of foreign jobs you take, then I'll take your word for it.

What frustrates me is, with your talent sir, and others like you, why choose to work in these high priced local magazines that are mostly read by the few and economically advantaged in Filipino society?

If its really low pay that we're talking about here, why not work for LIWAYWAY? Why not have your group work in Liwayway and uplift it with your art, if you think that it will revive an interest in classical Filpino comics art? I'm sorry, but I feel really let down. You're so talented. You would even benefit from more mature, challenging, and most definitely FILIPINO stories from older, wiser, FILIPINO writers and other award-winning FILIPINO writers who work there. I could see some really great collaborations here between your young group and the classical greats still toiling over at Liwayway. Your two groups could learn something from each other.

Unlike Fudge, Mwahaha, and Alamat, Liwayway is read by many economically disadvantaged Filipinos here and abroad. Why expose your talent as a classical Filipino artist to a few? Why do these publications you chose matter?

Putting up a virtual museum in the internet in honor of our comics greats is indeed laudable. But if the effect is only to produce bittersweet memories of the past and of pinings for glories long gone, I'm sorry but its not my cup of tea. I'd rather see people like you really work in the sweatshop where the classical masters toiled such as Liwayway.

I want to see LIVE people ACTUALLY promoting the old masters' work HERE in this country and read by the great many who matter. A collaboration of the old and the new in today's LIWAYWAY magazine. I want to see you guys MATURE as people in LIWAYWAY.

But then again, this may have insulted you yet again and for that, my advance apologies.

Art.

10:37 PM

 Anonymous said...

Just a comment on what Mr. Geroche posted... there is such a thing a freedom of choice. Mr. Alanguilan and the others chose to work on foreign books because they were given a chance and they chose to take the opportunity and I'm sure many of the artists on Liwayway would grab the opportunity if it was offered to them.

Is it really that saddening to see your countrymen succeed globally?

1:01 AM

 Gerry Alanguilan said...

You said that you were bewailing the fact that we work in American comics and not here locally.

I've shown you that I AM working locally.

And yet for you that is not enough. Now you require that I work for Liwayway.

Do you know that some artist is going to lose his job to me if I work there? I'd work there in an instant if it meant not depriving anybody work over there.

I've met and talked with Hal Santiago many times, and with Jun Lofamia. They're all great artists. You don't need to tell me I need to learn anything from them because I do everyday, everytime I see their work in Liwayway with every new weekly issue.

I'd much rather see them continue working there. I'm content to find work elsewhere.

I thought we were talking about your mistaken contention that I'm doing it for the money. That was what I was reacting to. Now, working locally is no longer enough for you, we have to work for something like Liwayway for our work to "matter".

That is a new discussion entirely. But for the sake of discussion....

It seems that for you, love for the comics industry means we have to starve. The lower the pay the better. How productive can that possibly be if I'm not doing comics because I'm dead? It really doesn't have to be that way. I'm already taking more than 80% pay cut to work locally as opposed to internationally. I can work internationally if I want to. But I don't. Isn't that enough proof for you that I'm not doing it for the money?

You forgot ELMER, a project I'm publishing myself. I'm not doing this for any pay at all. I'm not only doing it for free, but I'm paying to get this out there myself. Elmer is only the last in a long line of self published comics I hae been doing for the past 10 years where I really made no money. How lower in the economic scale do you want me to go?

Would you rather I go lower and earn 100 pesos a page, starving myself and my family, get us kicked out of our apartment, just to satisfy your standards of doing it for the "love of it."?

There has to be a solution somewhere where I could earn well enough to support myself and my family, and yet do comics locally. Comics that are inexpensive enough to be afforded by more people.

"Sampalok" and "Timawa" are part of an experiment that will test this out later this year. We hope to make these comic books inexpensive enough to be afforded by more people, and yet not cheap enough that it would kill us doing it.

But I don't see anything wrong with working for Mwahaha or Fudge Magazine. The industry of comics today now allows for much more venues as opposed to decades ago. I object to your contention that doing comics not necessarily geared for the masa doesn't matter. It does matter. We're all Filipinos here, poor or not.

I'm sorry that you don't see the advantages of having an online museum of our classic artists. Our young artists today have forgotten who the likes of Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino and Alfredo Alcala are. Don't you think that's tragic? They emulate Japanese and American artists more than Filipino artists, because they are not aware of our great legacy of Filipino comics art.

But now because of this museum and a lot of things I've been doing to reintroduce the art of our great masters to our young artists, they now look to home as well, and are inspired by our artists as well.

I'd like to think that appreciation for these artists give them a sense of identity, a sense of pride in our comics history, and pride in themselves as comic book artists.

1:20 AM

 aklas isip said...

Art G. here.

Thank you for responding, Mr. Alanguilan. It really answers a lot of questions.

Mr. Villegas, thank you for the opportunity to comment in your blog and I do apologize for the controversy I caused here. I now understand that we really have a long to go.

Thank you all.

Art.

3:11 AM

 kumukulong-putik said...

Wala namang mali sa pagtawag na Komiks sa ating Philippine Comics ah...Its Filipino kasi! If the Japanese comics nga is Manga and korean comics naman is Manwha bakit hindi naman iyong KOMIKS(Philippine Comics) of the Philippines...There's the filipino style of Comics kaya nga tinatawag na komiks...Yaman ito ng Sining at Kultura sa Pilipinas eh...

5:24 AM

 Anonymous said...

Si Art Geroche pala si Aklas Isip. Bagsik!

Pero alam mo Art, you can still do comics for the love of it, but you can still do it for the money at the same time. Pwede namang hindi exclusive yung dalawa. Money is important. Anybody who thinks otherwise is either naive or stupid. You need to pay your bills and everything, that's all. That's why importante na people find jobs that they want to do, para naman they not only get to do what they want,they also get paid for it. You can't blame people if they want to work abroad. Malaki ang kita e. Do they do it for the money? Syempre! But you can bet your ass they love what they're doing nevertheless. Di mo rin sila masisi. Talents yan e, hindi sila mga publisher. Pag may nagtayo ng comics company dito na malaki ang bayad, makakasigurado ka na maguuwian lahat yan. You can't expect them to be sacrifice themselves for their country. They're only human who have families to feed. At least pag sa ibang bansa sila gumagawa, nabibigyan nila ng parangal ang ating bansa. Maganda rin yun!

-Don

5:26 AM

 Gerry Alanguilan said...

Wag naman kayong ganyan sa father ni Art. Magaling naman sya, at kahit paano OK din ang contribution nya sa bansa natin. Sa totoo nga, featured sya ngayon sa site ko. Dapat noon ko pa ginawa kasi bilib ako sa gawa nya.

Pero confused ako. Are you Art Geroche himself, or are you his son? So ikaw pala si Aklas Isip. So why didn't you say so in the first place? Now I know why you seem so knowledgable about the comics industry (but not about me at least until today). I mean, OK lang naman if you said so right from the start. Hindi na ngayon nakakainis dealing with you. Now I know I'm actually talking to a human being.

Pasensya na if I get hot under the collar sometimes, pero ganun ako minsan talaga. Well, actually a lot of the time, lalo na when people say things about me na hindi totoo. Bad ang naging experience ko sa buhay ko sa ganyan. Lagi ako napapagbintangan gumagawa at nagsasalita ng mga bagay na hindi ko naman ginawa o sinabi. Natural lang naman na pagtanggol ko sarili ko diba? At natural na rin na may kasamang inis doon.

Now that I know who you are... hindi ka na anonymous. And let's see what happens from here.

5:46 AM

 Dennis Villegas said...

Kung si Aklas Isip nga si Art Geroche, medyo nagtataka ako dahil ang alam kong stand ni Aklas-Isip ay yung stand ni Mr. Francine Liberia, yung isang nag-post ng comment sa itaas(correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what it seemed to me from reading regularly Aklas Isip's excellent blog). Anyway, I do not wish to participate in the discussion until I know for sure who I'm talking with. Hindi ko alam kung si Art ba siya o yung father niyang artist, o kapangalan lang. But then, if I'm mistaken, I deeply apologize.

7:41 AM

 Gerry Alanguilan said...

Napansin ko lang Dennis, kasi the person who is using Aklas Isip's blogger account to post is last message is signed Art G.

I don't know if it was intentional to reveal himself or if he failed to log out when he posted as Art G.

Let's see what happens next. Sa akin OK lang naman if that's who he really is. At least may idea na ako where he is coming from, and I can put his views in perspective.

Ako rin I'm not sure if it's Art Geroche himself or his son, but if it's the former, regardless of what I think of your opinions, I think you're a fantastic artist, Mr. Art Geroche.

I have no idea what you are doing now, but if you still wish to do comics, I think there's plenty of venues for your art.

7:48 AM

 Wyn said...

I'm no comics artist but I know what kind of art I like. No one has to tell me what "great" comics art should be because it all comes down to taste. We all appreciate comics art here no matter what style they use. And for a Filipino living abroad, I am proud to hear pinoys making it big in the international comics industry. Its the way to go, if artists like Gerry Alanguilan and others constrain themselves to work locally, they will only limit themselves (and what they can do) to people living locally. We already know they've got talent and skills, breaking the international comics market exposes not only the artists but the Filipino art to the world.

And I'd like to think that the online museum that Gerry put up was quite informative. I didn't know who Redondo was or any of the other masters if not for the komiks museum.

2:09 PM

 Anonymous said...

I guess the problem in Mr. Geroche's argument is -- it's really ultimately none of anybody's business telling artists with whom they should work for and for how much, unless that somebody is paying for the artist's daily living.

Ultimately Redondo (and many others of the classical style) spent the last years of his life in the U.S. working for U.S. companies and not even working for comics. There are still many of them not working in comics anymore -- many working in animation or advertising, some as waiters or security guards as a reliable source told me. What do we say to these people? Come home and work for Liwayway and starve? Don't give your children the opportunity for a better future for the sake of reviving cultural heritage? Again, ultimately, it's nobody's business telling others how to make a living as long as how they make a living is not illegal.

Gerry's probably an exception -- since he chose to work on local stuff and has left behind working on Marvel/DC stuff.

But the other artists who are still working on the Marvel/DC comics should be proud of carrying on with our heritage, albeit in a different arena. Besides, some of them have been able to do local work because they're paid well abroad... so they're able to subsidize their work on local comics.

And another thing other people shouldn't be in the business of telling others is where they should take their artistic influences. You can expose them to what you feel are good influences (as Gerry's done), but let them decide. If they like to draw in Manga style, then long live the diversity. What a boring 'komiks industry' that would be if everybody drew like the classical masters. I've looked at some books about manga art in Japan and I'm amazed at how diverse the styles are even in that genre! I don't draw manga myself, but I can appreciate good and bad manga.

I do agree though that most of the local komiks produced have anemic art not worthy of putting beside our old komiks-- but that doesn't mean they should draw like people did back then. It just means people should draw well in the style of their choice.

4:40 PM

 monsanto said...

Sala sa init, sala sa lamig.

Kailan ba tayo talaga matutuwa sa lahat ng sakripisyo ng mga artists natin sa ganitong larangan?

Pag ganyan tayo kakitid sa damdamin at kakayahan ng bawat isa... hay, nakakapagod na.

Pero, basta kung ikaw ay masaya, pumalakpak ka hehe.

Kung gusto mo talaga ng change? Contribute!

-Gilbert Monsanto

6:05 PM

 Anonymous said...

Let's face it, di na makakabangon ang comics industries sa Pilipinas. Dami ng option ang mga tao para malibang. Collection item na lang Komiks sa ibang Pilipino at yung majority wala ng interest kaya namatay ang industry. Yung monopoly ng isang kumpanya resulta na rin iyan ng proseso ng mga nangyayari sa loob ng industriya nuon. Alam din naman natin kung ano ang nangyari sa manual animation industry.... heto kinakaharap natin ang panibagong hamon ng sining......computer generated animation. Nasa atin na lang kung saan tayo lulugar. Kung production na lang ba tayo o creative talents na gumagawa ng sariling atin at binibenta sa buong mundo ang mga likhang sining natin. Alam natin lahat ang sagot kung ang dahilan ng kamatayan ng isang industriya gaya ng komiks. Ang mga tao eh marunong ding mauta o magsawa sa kanilang nakikita.

Example natin ang jeepney... since world war 2 yun pa rin ang itsura nito. Humaba lang, naiba lang ang makina, nagiba lang ibang disenyong nilalagay sa katawan. Pero jeepney pa rin. Tatak natin, proud tayo kasi identity natin yun, Ang problema di tayo lumabas, we stick to that. Imagine lang natin kung by 1960's gumawa si Sarao ng sarili niyang Hybrid n a sasakyan siguro by this time baka umaalagwa na sa industriya ang mga kotseng SARAO mabuhay class, Maharlika, Sarao X110, etc. etc gaganda sanang magisip ng pangalan. di lang dito sa Pinas baka worldwide pa sumikat ang Sarao.

Sa Japan alam ko after komiks nagmigrate sila sa animation to movies to character licensing. Kaya ayun may sarili silang industry. Kasi sila ang nagcreate sila din ang nagdikta kung ano maganda sa masa. Marami tayong magagaling na artist at illustrator, proven na iyan.

3:39 PM

Post a Comment