A PINOY SUPERHERO CALLED 'KASTIGO'
I was rearranging the books in my shelf when I stumbled upon this Lan Medina illustration sandwiched between two books (1,000 Street Foods You Must Eat Before You Die and How To Treat Women With Respect (While Secretly Videotaping Them) by former MD Hayden Kho). It turned out to be an ad for a komiks novel I was supposed to write for Super Fantasy Komiks. The main character, Kastigo, a mysteriously dark, ultra-violent but funny superhero, was a creation by Ronald Estacio (then editor of Super Fantasy) but the villains, we discussed and brainstomed. Lan Medina was picked to illustrate it. Mr. Estacio had grand plans for Kastigo, it would have its own komiks entitled Kastigo (it would be 30+ pages long) and a small website would be devoted to it.
I’ve already started writing the script when an uprising erupted inside the publishing house. Incidentally, the owners of the company were of Spanish-descent while the writers and the illustrators were true-blooded katipuneros, er, Pinoys. It happened one sizzling afternoon, while post-dated checks as payment for the artists were being handed out, a man (letratista yata sa komiks) suddenly stood on top of a table and grabbed everyone’s attention, I didn’t notice if he had a bolo with him, and cried, “Ibagsak ang mga Kastila! Sobra na ang kanilang pagmamalabis!” He then tore up his cedula, er, his check worth, I think, around 80 pesos (no kidding). The other artists followed suit and tore up their cedulas, er, checks.
I’ve already started writing the script when an uprising erupted inside the publishing house. Incidentally, the owners of the company were of Spanish-descent while the writers and the illustrators were true-blooded katipuneros, er, Pinoys. It happened one sizzling afternoon, while post-dated checks as payment for the artists were being handed out, a man (letratista yata sa komiks) suddenly stood on top of a table and grabbed everyone’s attention, I didn’t notice if he had a bolo with him, and cried, “Ibagsak ang mga Kastila! Sobra na ang kanilang pagmamalabis!” He then tore up his cedula, er, his check worth, I think, around 80 pesos (no kidding). The other artists followed suit and tore up their cedulas, er, checks.
Before that incident, the artists had been grumbling about receiving bouncing checks as fee for their works.
And that's what toppled the Spanish regime (at least inside that publishing house) and signalled the start of the complete downfall of the local comics industry.
The publishing house closed shop before Kastigo could even take off the ground.
Comments
You really cracked me up with this one. The management who were acting like what we call in Spanish: Excusas de mal pagador (excuses of a bad debtor), were just using this excuse hoping to rise again somewhere (like what they have done in the sixties when ACE Publications on Pioneer & Sheridan Streets was also shut down to end the strike and it rose again in QC under a new name).
I know it was a serious thing, and even Jeff Ong told us the highly charged emotional repartee between him and the owner. But knowing your style, you always see the humor in every serious matter at hand, and this one looks exactly that: the parallelism between the revolt in komiks before its final days, and the Filipino revolution against the Spain.
Ok ang dating sa tingin ko ng superhero ninyo ni Ronald Estacio na "Kastigo". Maaari mo itong gawing Indie komiks at alam ko naman ang kalibre mo basta ikaw ang tumirada ng script para dito. Tiyak na kaya nitong talbugan ang ang mga superhero na ginagawa ng ilan nating mga bagitong Indie creator. Siguro mas maganda kung si Lan Medina rin ang illustrator nito. Maganda ang dating ng title na "Kastigo". Baka puwedeng kastiguhin nito iyong mga kontrabidang sobrang maliitin ang mga taga-komiks at mapatikiman ng sample ni Kastigo. Sige, magbubukas pa ako ng parlor kasi hairdresser na ang trabaho ko ngayon. Thanks.
Kailangan, humingi muna 'ko ng permiso kay Ronald. Brainchild niya 'yan. Yup, maganda nga 'yong pangalang 'Kastigo,' pinoy na pinoy at astig ang dating.
Parlor? Huwag mong sabihing bumigay ka na? He he.
Buti na lang hindi niya binanggit yung mga paboritong hanap-buhay ni Mars Ravelo sa kanyang mga baklang characters noon sa komiks (na palaging giagampanan ni Dolphy): Maruya Vendor, Hototay vendor, Okoy vendor. He-he.
A, do'n pala galing 'yong 'hairdresser' na binaggit ni Arman. Akala ko, nagladlad na talaga siya't sumunod sa yapak ni Boy Abunda. He he.
Wala raw ipinagkaiba ang komiks artists sa mga parlorista at sa mga nagtitinda ng sa malamig at tokneneng? Meron naman siguro. He he.
Kadalasan naman, 'yong mga ganyang maliit ang tingin sa sining ng komiks e, mga frustrated writers and illustrators. He he.
Paborito ko 'yong okoy, maipaluto nga bukas.
Castigo ? Spanish word for Punish. Yung Kastigo eh Pinoy version siguro ng The Punisher,a.k.a. Frank Castle ?
Pero it brings back memories of my boyhood in Bicol, noong uso pa noon ang "Juvenile Deliquency". Walang drugs at mga baril noon, good old fashioned barugan lang talaga. Panahon ito noon ng Handsome, Pretty Boy, Sino ang may Sala, Teenage-Crush, Jimmy Boy, The Wild Ones ( Marlon Brando), Rebel Without a Cause ( James Dean). Ang teen age gang na naghahasik ng lagim doon sa amin eh yung CASTIGO BOYS. Nangugulpi sila doon sa mga mapopormang kelot, at dine-deface nila ang mga wall ng kumbento at eskwelahan ng malalaking pulang pintura ng letrang CASTIGO BOYS.
Auggie
'Di ko alam kung sino o ano ang inspirasyon ni Ronald kay Kastigo. Baka nga si Punisher. Pero ako, no'ng binubuo ko 'yong first few scripts ng nobela, ang nasa isip ko no'n, e, si Lobo, 'yong alien superhero (o antihero)ng DC comics. Lobo is hilarious and very violent just like what we intend to do with Kastigo. It's one of my favorite comics characters abroad.
what publishing house is ronald estacio connected?
Ang alam ko, hindi na sa publication ang linya ng trabaho ni Ronald ngayon. Pero dati, kunektado siya sa GASI then sa Kislap Publishing.
Medyo wala na kaming komunikayon ngayon.
I'm his number 1 fan =)