SOME OF THE PHILIPPINE'S BEST CARTOONISTS

My good friend and fellow blogger Arman Francisco is currently running a series of blog updates about local cartoon strips and cartoon characters. Obviously, he loves cartoon strips. I, too, like cartoons. I also wanted to be a cartoonist then. When I first got inside the premises of Atlas Publishing then, I had with me my own cartoon strip entitled Rizalito. I haven’t wrote a single comics script then and GASI was still an unknown entity to me then. My strip was about a teenager who was named after Jose Rizal by his patriotic father. Rizalito resembled (at least the hairdo) Jose Rizal and he was supposed to act and speak like the national hero). He’s supposed to be smart, witty, sarcastic and love to spew patriotic lines.

The editor (I forgot his name) liked it, he was grinning while reading the few pages I gave him. “Okay ‘to, kaya lang ilipat mo sa mas malaking papel gaya nito,” he told me before showing me a standard-sized comics illustration. I drew my strips on short bond papers. “Baka gawin kong weekly ‘yan.”

Weekly? I got intimidated by that. My plan was to give him the few pages of cartoon strips I made and that was it. Babalik lang ako at magdadala uli kung kailan ko gusto. I didn’t think that I could cope up with a weekly cartoon strips. I was too lazy then. I told the editor I’d be back with the enlarged strips but I did not. I went back to Atlas but with scripts in hand instead. I just avoided that editor. Aside from my apprehension of the deadline and my ability to come up with a good weekly cartoon strips, I got busy with my studies, my two askals, my three supermodel girlfriends, my burgeoning showbiz career and my hallucinations. I was, I think, in second or third year college then. I let go of my plan to have a brilliant career as an astonishing cartoonist.



My favorite cartoon strips abroad are Hagar The Horrible (about an overweight viking whose crew is composed of stupid, inept and bumbling vikings) and the works of Sergio Aragones who I think is one of the best cartoonists in the world. Here, I really like Pol Medina’s Pugad Baboy which in my opinion is the best local cartoon ever. Ikabod by the late Nony Marcelo is a close second. I have a complete collection of the Pugad Baboy series. Durog na nga lang ang ilang kopya ko dahil sa paulit-ulit na pagbabasa habang ang iba pang kopya ay naligaw na ng landas at hindi na nakabalik sa akin matapos mahiram. Its illustrations are great and the humor, truly funny, biting, contemporary and sardonic.




I love cartoons so when I saw this book, Samahang Kartunista Ng Pilipinas Roster Book, at Komikon last year, I immediately grabbed it while no one was looking and ran out of the venue. Just kidding, I paid for it and had it signed by one of the cartoonists featured there, Freely Abrigo, who’s an amiable fellow. It’s a good book, perfect if you’re an aspiring cartoonist or one who wants to learn about cartoons and its creators in the Philippines, lots of cartoonists there and their sample works, from the promising new artists (Hazel Manzano, Mimi Romualdez) to the not so new but not so old (FreelyAbrigo, Manny Francisco who incidentally resembles Aragones' works) to the veterans (Romy Buen,Norman Isaac, Roni Santiago) and the truly greats (Rene Aranda, Dengcoy Miel). You'll find some of the country's best cartoonists and cartoon strips here. I was just wondering why Pol Medina’s not a member. Lyndon Gregorio, the creator of Beerkada, another good comic strip, is also missing. Try to have a copy of it if you love cartoons.