The Philippine Online Chronicles

Here is the second part (the first article is here) of komik creator Macoy Tang's series of profiles of Philippine independent komiks creators with whom he shared the Indie Komiks table at the 2010 Summer Komikon.

Original/Manga

It is past noon at the Summer Komikon being held at UP's Bahay ng Alumni, and the man who calls himself Darkchapel is running late again.

Darkchapel, or simply Chapel to his comics friends, makes his way past the milling crowd of convention-goers and heads to the Indie Komiks table. By sheer luck he finds the last unoccupied seat, tucked away in a corner facing the wall. Not the most desirable spot in terms of foot traffic, but then latecomers can't be choosy, and Chapel's nothing if not a trouper.

He begins setting up, arranging copies of all five issues of the eponymous manga-themed zine put together by his group, Silent Sanctum Manga. He lays them out neatly across the red tablecloth.Then he brings out the toys, er, marketing material.

The Silent Sanctum crew puts a little more effort into their indie table setup than many of their peers. This year, a foot-and-a-half tall Sentinel action figure watches over their books, grasping a copy of Silent Sanctum Manga, while a black plastic shrunken head with a shock of white hair greets potential customers. Last year they'd brought a huge Castle Greyskull playset upon whose battlements was glued a Manny Pacquiao figurine hand-crafted by one of Chapel's Silent Sanctum colleagues. Before that, it had been vintage Biker Mice From Mars action figures. Chapel takes pride in their booth decor, and in the fact that they've been creating manga since the local manga scene's infancy.

It's one thing to be an indie komiks artist, but to be a manga-influenced indie komiks artist is quite another matter entirely. Over the years, Silent Sanctum and similar groups have had to weather criticism from several factions in the komiks world concerning their originality, artistic integrity and even their patriotism. While such resistance has slowed mainstream acceptance of what has been called Pinoy Manga, it has also given people like Chapel something to push against, and Chapel himself obviously relishes his role as a subversive artist. "Ni-label na namin ang sarili namin bilang 'manga' para 'di na kami ma-label ng iba (We'd rather label ourselves as 'manga' than have others do it for us)" says he.

Not surprisingly, the word "originality" turns up again and again in my conversation with Chapel. I guess you could call it a central value in his philosophy. He values it in others (i.e. he hates copycats), but more importantly he values it in himself. The fact that he creates works in the manga style doesn't contradict or interfere with his quest to create something new: "Lahat ng original, may pinanggalingan. (Even original things come from somewhere.)"

Kalayaan

In a field where the norm is for an indie title to start strong, release increasingly late and then gradually fade away, Gio Paredes' Kalayaan is something of a miracle. Not only has it successfully managed to stick to its release schedule for nine issues over a span of three years—a testament to Paredes' discipline and tenacity—but a recent publishing deal with a U.S.-based company means that Kalayaan will be the very first Pinoy indie to be exported abroad.

And that deal might never have happened if not for Komikon.

It was at Komikon 2008 that Gio was approached by representatives of Forex DKM, a publishing company based in Springfield, Virginia. They were scouting for a comics supplement for the Pinoy Herald, a regional newspaper aimed at the Fil-Am and Pinoy expat communities living along the USA's East Coast. Kalayaan made a big impression on them because of its very Filipino look (Kalayaan's flag-inspired costume was a major factor), characters, dialogue, setting, and, crucially, it had a backlist of past issues that could act as a buffer in case of publishing and/or creator-side delays.

Paredes was naturally excited by the prospect of international publication, but at the same time a little skeptical as to whether the project would actually get off the ground. After all, abortive projects are not uncommon in the komiks world. The people he'd spoken to were indeed board members in the company, but the final decision wasn't up to them. When they ceased contact a few months later and no further news seemed forthcoming, Gio decided that it had all been just another pipe dream after all. As komiks people like to say, "Drawing nanaman. (Yet another drawing)"

Fast forward to the beginning of 2010, and from out of nowhere Gio receives a phone call inviting him to a meeting with Forex's CEO to iron out the details of their contract. Within two months the first issue of the US edition of Kalayaan hits the stands. And the rest is history in the making.

Now lest we consider this just another Cinderella story with a US-based fairy godmother, let me stress that Paredes prepared himself for his success. He worked at his comics despite having a family and a full-time job. He sought out and maintained several outlets for his comic. He registered Kalayaan at the Copyright Division of the National Library of the Philippines and got an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) for it. When Forex came knocking, he didn't just roll over and surrender everything just to get published; he made clear demands as to which rights would go to Forex and which would remain with him. I have no doubt that the copyright precautions strengthened his bargaining position when the time came for his big break. On many levels, Kalayaan stands as an example from which many aspiring indie artists can learn.

Still, that doesn't mean Gio is without his shortcomings. He is very open about his weaknesses as a draftsman, discussing them at length during an interview in the December 2009 issue of UNO magazine: "I am not really that good yet. I am still a rookie and I still need to learn more. I am constantly working to improve my art. And that is what an artist should be."

And so, here is the artist, sitting at his spot in the 2010 Summer Komikon while I take a picture of him with TV star John Lapuz. John had just bought a set of all nine issues of Kalayaan. While I promised Gio to email him the pictures I wondered if any camera crews would suddenly materialize, asking him for an interview, just like when he was at the Renaissance book launch earlier this year. I wondered, further, how much higher Kalayaan can fly. It's impossible to predict.