The Philippine Online Chronicles

When I was a young boy, I would have killed for a Philippine superhero universe.

This isn't to say that there weren't any Filipino superheroes when I was younger, but in those pre-Internet days, I was simply not aware of them. I certainly knew about Darna and Captain Barbell because of their old movies, and was probably vaguely aware that they shared the same universe, but for someone used to the Marvel universe (the first comic I remember holding in my grubby little hands was Avengers #315, in the middle of a guest appearance by Spider-man) it simply wasn't the same. I wanted the feeling of scale, of continuity, that could only be achieved by the layering and intersection of different narratives and disparate heroes, the same way that the lives of real people layered and intersected. Twenty years after that first comic book, that universe is starting to be created--and in a creator friendly way that the child-me never realized the Marvel Universe was not--and for that Gilbert Monsanto and the rest of the Bayan Knights crew (for this truly seems to be a group effort) deserve appreciation and support.

That being said, a project as ambitious (on and off the page) as Bayan Knights inevitably encounters birthing pains, but before diving into the world of the Bayan Knights, it's important to realize that it has a special place in the industry, not just as a komik, but as a platform. To evaluate Bayan Knights, I think it has to be viewed from those two different--and sometimes conflicting--missions.

Cover art by Monsanto/Tadeo/Taduran/Beredo

We Are One

In a 2008 interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Gilbert Monsanto made the mission of the komik-as-platform clear:  "The idea behind Bayan Knights is to introduce the characters and their creators and hopefully lead the readers to look for their own published comics books.” Monsanto decided to start the project upon discovering the many creators on Deviantart coming up with their own Filipino superheroes, characters which had no ready commercial outlet given the dearth of superhero komiks publishers in the Philippines. Even after the series began, the Bayan Knights team remained--and still remains, to the best of my knowledge--open to the submission of original characters (whether they be heroes or villains) with the rights to these characters remaining with their creators, even as characters accepted by the Bayan Knights team are integrated into the ongoing storyline. Monsanto draws and scripts the main story (around twenty two to twenty three pages) of every issue, but the final portion of every issue is devoted to mini origin stories that introduce the various characters. These origin segments are usually drawn/scripted by the character creators themselves, with Monsanto lending a helping hand as needed.

As a platform that promotes and nurtures Filipino superhero komiks creators, Bayan Knights is a success.

Cover art by Medina/Monsanto

The nurturing given to budding superhero komiks creators--while undoubtedly present--is largely behind-the-scenes, invisible to one such as myself who isn't privy to exactly how much guidance is given to the less experienced creators. Even then, the boost in self-confidence alone that being a part of Bayan Knights brings, cannot be understated. One needs only to see the ecstatic comments of creators whenever Monsanto posts the pages that feature their characters first appearance in the Bayan Knights world, to know how much it means to them. I've experienced what it means to have someone better at a creative medium (whether it be art or prose) take a character I've created and give it life--it's an exhilarating experience, because it not only tells you that someone you admire sees something worthy about your work, but also because in seeing your creation rendered by someone farther along the creative path, you gain a glimpse of the potential in your own creation that you may not be skilled enough to actualize in the here and now. That glimpse can keep a writer or an artist going, for a long, long time.

How it helps promote the creators is easier to see: while many self-published works are available only during conventions (such as Komikon, Metro Comic Con, or selected anime/manga cons) Bayan Knights issues are distributed not only in comic specialty stores, but in selected outlets of National Bookstore, the largest and most well known book chain in the country. Every Bayan Knights issue also features a beautiful, colored, cover--many of which feature guest cover artists who are even more well-known than Monsanto himself (such as Lenil Francis Yu, superstar Marvel artist). The high production values of the cover increases the chance that even a person who had never heard of the Bayan Knights will pick up a random issue, if only to flip through it--already a significant win for the komik amidst a crowded magazine rack.

Cover art by Yu/Monsanto

We Are Many

In his note at the end of Issue # 4 of Bayan Knights, Monsanto speaks about the challenges inherent in the endeavor: "Managing a universe is like traffic hell. There will always be conflicts at every turn, compromises must be made while a certain degree of coherence must be maintained." While I'm not certain which compromises in particular Monsanto is referring to, I do believe that in its zeal to accomplish its mission as a platform for creators and characters, however, the Bayan Knights team makes choices that necessarily impact its other mission: to be a great superhero story.

There are a lot of characters in Bayan Knights, and this has implications. While this allows the series to serve as a platform for a growing number of characters and creators, it also means that it becomes more difficult to ensure that every character gets screen time, and show what makes the character different from his or her peers. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are so many characters being introduced each issue--sometimes entire teams (the Powerhouse Division at the end of Issue 1; the Gilas Team in Issue 2; the Tronix Division in Issue 4)--to the point that introductions, or re-introductions, of the characters in the fourth issue account for a good chunk of the main story. Given these constraints, it is understandably hard for Monsanto to advance the plot of the story without resorting to copious exposition. Add to this the complication that each of the teams is usually out on a different mission, and yet the narrative voice is locked to the perspective of Sarhento Sagrado, which, as seen in issue #4, can result in some awkward segues as, in order to provide a narrative excuse to focus on the other teams, Sagrado has to make some reference to them. The result can be a somewhat fractured narrative flow that can be confusing to the reader.

All the different characters and plot threads create a context that doesn't really allow a lot of space for subtlety, or the quieter moments of character interaction that team books usually need to temper the bombast of group melee after group melee. Granted that Bayan Knights is done more in the style of a “big event” comic with a focus on cool team-ups and match-ups, event comics achieve resonance because the individual characters have already been built up in their own series. While around a dozen of the Bayan Knights characters have their own solo komiks, many more do not (and few of those that do have had enough issues to truly build the character, the notable exceptions being Kalayaan and Maskarado, which may have been why this pair was at center stage in issue #3). If readers aren’t familiar with a character, then it won’t resonate with us when that character faces off with a powerful enemy, or otherwise finds himself in a bind.

Cover art by Tolibao/Fajardo Jr.

By the fourth issue, Sagrado speaks as if the core team has grown closer as a unit, but we only know that because he tells us, not because we've seen it happen. This is in part because at this chronological point, the heroes have been through adventures--a cross-over with Digmaang Salinlahi and a stand alone Powerhouse Division graphic novel--that have yet to see print. Scheduling issues afflict even the giants of the international comic book industry, but while allowances must be made in order that Bayan Knights may fulfill its role as a platform, even that role will be undermined if an issue is not accessible to a new reader. While attempts to make issues more new-reader-friendly are evident in the plot recaps and character re-introductions, the latter might be best left for the mini origins, and the former for “Ang Nakaraan” blurbs on the back of the covers (as in Issue #3) to avoid taking up more of the already limited space for the main story.

At the moment, Bayan Knights is in the middle of an eight part story arc, and I hope that the heroes and the readers are allowed some time to get to know each other before the next big crisis. Whether it does or not, however, I’m fairly sure that the Monsanto and his team will continue to refine their craft. In most aspects (and burgeoning roster aside), the series has improved steadily with each issue. While in Issue #1 both the narrative and character dialogue seemed to vacillate arbitrarily from English to Filipino, by Issue #4, the division is much more natural, with most of the dialogue taking place in Filipino while Sagrado’s narration is in English. As far as the art goes, while I personally prefer the clearer contrasts and thicker black lines of the earlier issues, the softer, more shaded style in Issue #4 is likely to have its adherents.

The Bayan Knights komik, like the heroes themselves--and like the komiks industry--is in a state of flux, of evolution. While there may be problems here and there with the komik as a tale, the changes from issue to issue show how hard the creators are working to make it better. As a superhero story, Bayan Knights is full of energy and a distinctly Filipino flavor, but it needs more quiet moments and a bit of decompression to better set up its massive battles. As a platform, however, Bayan Knights is triumphant, a testament to that oft-cited-but-seldom-seen bayanihan spirit, and an inspiration to those who dream of seeing capes flying over our skies, wearing our colors, speaking in our tongue.

[Images from the Bayan Knights blog]