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When I found out about this local video blog making contest, I knew I just had to join. Video has become quite of an interest for me in addition to comics. It's really just a way of having fun. Whatever it is about, I'm game for that! The contest, it just so happens, is by Coca-Cola Philippines. Having enjoyed a nice relationship with Coke for most of my life, I thought well, promoting it didn't seem much of a problem to me.
Besides, the prizes are nothing to sneeze at. I could always use a new LCD TV (ours is like almost 20 years old!), or a new Digicam. Of course, that's if I win. But I'm not really thinking about that. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't get the right idea and story for it though. Once the idea clicked, I knew I just had to do it because it seemed so much fun, even if the first prize was just a can of Coke.
My thanks to my good old friend Architect Arlan Esmeña for being in the video with me. Some of you might remember him from my old TRUE LOVE video. And for those that may be wondering, yes, Arlan is indeed an active and practicing architect here in San Pablo City. I'd like to think he helps me does these things for the same reasons I do them.
And thanks also to my wife Ilyn, who has always been very supportive... and for holding the camera during certain bits of the video.
Unbelievably, I stupidly injured myself while doing this thing. It's just minor, but there was a bit of bleeding. When it happened, I actually laughed. It was so insane.
A comics festival was held here in San Pablo City on December of 2003 at the residence of Mr. Mariño, along Sampalok Lake. It was organized very quickly. We only had at the very least two months to prepare, plan, organize everything. All in all, I thought it turned out great.
This is an unlettered page from "Love Hurts" a short story I contributed to "Liquid City", an anthology of mostly South East Asian comic book creators to be published by Image Comics later this year.
It's a been a year, almost to the day, that my dog Eugene, died. I didn't talk about it on this blog because I find it uncomfortable to talk about very personal things here. Much of that personal stuff I keep offline and between family and close friends. But I couldn't help express that grief somehow, and I expressed it through that where I could express it best: comics.
At the time I had been keeping a daily online comic strip depicting true and ordinary things that preoccupy me during the day. Many of those strips had Eugene in it. All of those strips can still be accessed at Webcomicsnation.com, but I've recently decided to reformat and re-organize my online strips into subjects in my site.
Subjects I went into include cellphones, sleep paralysis, PLDT woes, birds and chickens, dreams, friendships and so on. Click below for for Eugene's online comics.
I am participating in a comics anthology called "Liquid City", collecting the comics work of several South East Asian comics creators, to be published by Image Comics in the fall. Having experienced no such thing as a "fall" here in the Philippines, I had no idea what that meant until I learned it's actually anytime between September to December in the US.
I'm pretty excited about it as I'll be in the company of some really awesome artists and I'm scratching my head just what the hell I'm doing there, you know? They've got LAT in there, for goodness sake.
That USED to be page 1 of what I was planning to contribute. It would just be a visual story, no dialogue involved, where this guy drinks this coffee and he takes off into the sky, and proceeds to fly erratically through the city causing all kinds of confusion, pratfalls, and all sorts of hijinks. He then runs out of steam and falls with a huge crash back on his chair and says "Great Coffee!"
Now as people started turning in their stuff for the anthology, the more I felt ashamed and embarrassed by the work that I've done. I've had to re-assess and consider what I should do. I decided to scrap the story altogether and just come up with a new one. It's that new story that I submitted at my deadline yesterday. I worked really hard on it, and I still don't know if it's on par with what the others did, but at least it's better than what I did before.
After all that you'd think I'd take a break, but although I want to, it's time to continue work on Timawa #9! With crazy deadline a few days from now. Allright!
The best talks that I have done are those where I myself come away enlightened, learning even as I share what knowledge and experience that I have. Yesterday's talk at Tagaytay was one such example. I thought the talk itself was allright, and I just made it quite short, less than 20 minutes, I think. It was the forum afterwards that I was looking forward to because answering questions allows me to focus more on a specific topic. It is through these interactions that I get the opportunity to think very hard about my own beliefs and once in a while I'd get an insight that allows me to further mold those beliefs. I'm always continuing to learn, and always I welcome the opportunity to do so, in whatever circumstance.
I accepted the the invitation to give this talk, in spite of a rather pressing deadline, because it was Mr. Hugo Yonzonwho invited me. I've always liked the Mr. and Mrs. Yonzon, because they're the kind of people that one immediately feels comfortable conversing with. They're friendly and hospitable, very intelligent and witty, and most importantly, they have a deep love for comics and remarkable respect for the people who create them.
I have worked for them for a few years, creating Johnny Balbona specially for their Mwahaha! title, as well as writing Lastik-Man for a one shot story drawn by Arnold Arre and colored by Edgar Tadeo. The Yonzons recognized the rights I have to the work I create, and paid me well for my efforts. They're such a joy to interact with, personally and professionally.
Johnny was with us yesterday, and amazingly enough, he completed two of his unique paintings as he listened to me and Jonas talk. Later, he gave the paintings to the Yonzons as a gift.
Seeing Johnny there with the Yonzons was a strange experience. Johnny is, after all, the big inspiration for Johnny Balbona. I know I said the character was dead, but if I ever continue doing it, I'll do it for Mango comics, if they're open to having that happen at some point in the future.
The Komikero meeting yesterday was one of the more relaxing and comfortable ones, with Johnny and Jonas being specially cheerful and fun loving. This is just a preview of an upcoming video, which I hope to edit and upload soon, as soon as I recover from yesterday's bliss.
A couple of months late, but I had the time to do it only today. Komikero meeting here in San Pablo, last Sunday of March with Jonas Diego, Nikko Carlo Cayaga, Edgar Tadeo and Myke Guisinga.
Work on Elmer #4 is underway, although at this very moment, I'm embroiled in finishing a Timawa deadline. I've taken a few suggestions, specially from regular visitor Rod Samonte, and I believe it's helped me a lot in doing the seventh installment of Timawa, out with The Buzz Magasin at the end of next month.
I've written out half of Elmer #4, and laid out the storyline up until the end, and it's definitely going to take up a lot of pages. I had planned both #2 and #3 to be double sized, which didn't pan out, so it's all going to fall into the last issue. I got suggestions to extend Elmer a few more issues, but no, I think I need to finish everything with this issue. The momentum is there and to cut up the story further would affect how the story is told.
There is a bit of news about Elmer as a whole. As some of you already know, I've made a CBR file of Elmer #1 and offered it as a free download. I've even bought ads which appeared at Comicspace and Webcomicsnation for a couple of days just to advertise it. Hopefully, it will raise a bit of interest for the rest of the series.
Tom Spurgeon at the Comics Reporterfeatured Elmer at his site here, saying "There's nothing like this book on the stands right now." Thanks Tom!
I'm holding my horses here because I don't seriously think it means anything except added exposure for the comics. But I'm grateful nevertheless for Rob Worley for featuring Elmer at the site. Thanks Rob!
Just a quick post to tell anyone interested about our monthly Komikero meetings, which aren't really meetings but a get together of artists here in San Pablo to sketch, paint, take photographs, talk about comics, movies, porn and other cool stuff.
The next meeting will be THIS SUNDAY, March 30, 2008 here in San Pablo City, on the parks surrounding Sampalok Lake. For those who haven't been to our meetings before, consult this photo-map: http://alanguilan.com/sanpablo/map1/ We'll be somewhere in Area B.
Meetings begin 10am, but you won't miss anything if you arrive later than that. Feel free to drop in at anytime during the day, except perhaps when it's already late in the afternoon. If you arrive lunchtime, we might be off eating so don't feel discouraged if you don't see us.
Bring your sketchbooks, art materials, and so forth! New attendees need to bring extra underwear and a towel. I'm not saying why.
Sindak! is a new large format (9"x12") comics magazine published by ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN Publishing is also the publisher of The Buzz Magasin where my Timawa comes out. I'm a contributor to the first issue of Sindak!, contributing two full color pages. I was supposed to do the cover, but when editor KC Cordero put together a mock cover for proposal, I thought the artwork for the mock cover looked great, and that it was good enough for the cover for the comics-magazine's debut issue.
I'm very excited about this magazine because there's a lot of really talented people involved, it's large format, in Tagalog, and in full color. The first issue drops end of March and will be available all over the Philippines.
The comics-magazine will be published once every two months. Hopefully, I'll be able to do six pages for each issue beginning with the #2.
Kudos to editor KC Cordero for pushing this, and for ABS CBN for supporting the project. Philippine comics continues to evolve, and if you told me a year ago that ABS CBN will be one of those helping that happen I wouldn't have believed you.
A new book on the Art of Alex Niño will soon by published by Auad Publishing in the US. That's right. A book on the art of a FILIPINO artist is going to be published in the US.
To date, no art book about any Filipino comics artist (not counting the cartoonists), aside from Francisco V. Coching have been published here in the Philippines. It's an indication that we Filipinos, specially those in the art community need take a second look at our artists in comics and preserve their art before it's too late.
I no longer have any extra copies of Elmer #1, and I think Comic Quest only has a few issues left in their Megamall store. Since a lot of people are still asking me where to get it, specially abroad, I decided to make a FREE download-able CBR file of ELMER #1.
I hope it could raise a bit of interest for the currently available #2 and #3, as well #4 (the last issue), when it comes out. As with my experience with Wasted, having an online version actually generates interest for a print version. I'm trying to determine if I'm going to go ahead with a reprint of #1 which will accompany the release of #4 in the future.
Please feel free to check it out, and let me know what you think.
Due to the response to my Alex Niño post, I thought I'd put up more artwork from Alex, as well as other artists, and also point out that they come from a website I put together collecting hundreds of such artwork which you can find here:
I attended the opening of the FoEM Art Exhibit which features the work of several artists including a few cartoonists including Dengcoy Miel, Dante Perez and Tence Ruiz.
I accepted the the invitation to give this talk, in spite of a rather pressing deadline, because it was 
Sindak! is a new large format (9"x12") comics magazine published by ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN Publishing is also the publisher of The Buzz Magasin where my Timawa comes out. I'm a contributor to the first issue of Sindak!, contributing two full color pages. I was supposed to do the cover, but when editor KC Cordero put together a mock cover for proposal, I thought the artwork for the mock cover looked great, and that it was good enough for the cover for the comics-magazine's debut issue.
