Philippine comics

"Komiks" redirects here. For the television series, see Komiks (TV series)

Philippine comics
Earliest publications	1920s on
Languages	Filipino Tagalog

Comics in the Philippines (Filipino: Komiks) were partially inspired by American mainstream comic strips and comic books during the early 20th century, particularly after World War II, the medium became widespread and popular throughout the country, though its popularity has subsided somewhat with the advent of other mass-media forms such as telenovelas.

The word komiks is simply the English word "comics", adapted to fit the orthography of native Filipino languages such as Tagalog.

History

While the first indigenous cartoons may be traced to José Rizal's fable "The Monkey and the Tortoise", the origins of the mainstream komiks industry would not arise until after the Spanish-American War. In the 1920s, Liwayway magazine began running comic strips under the direction of Romualdo Ramos and Tony Velasquez such as the still-running Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy (The Misadventures of Kenkoy). Originally inspired by American comic strips and comic books left behind by American GIs , the medium steadily diverged, and by the 1950s, drew more inspiration from other forms of Filipino literature such as komedya, as well as Philippine mythology. Many komiks were evidently inspired by specific American comics, such as Kulafu and Og (Tarzan), Darna (Shazam!), and D. I. Trece (Dick Tracy). The predominance of superheroes has continued into the modern day. However, other characters such as Dyesebel draw more from traditional folklore.

At one point, between 33 to 40 percent of Filipinos read komiks, but this number has since dwindled somewhat due to competition from other media forms. More recently, comic artists have begun producing what is often called "Pinoy Manga", inspired largely by Japanese anime and manga which have been widely available in the Philippines since the 1970s.

In the late 1960s, Filipino artist Tony DeZuniga broke into the American comics industry, under the auspices of DC Comics editor Joe Orlando. In 1971, Orlando and DC editor-in-chief Carmine Infantino traveled to the Philippines on a recruiting trip.^[1] Alfredo Alcala, Mar Amongo, Ernie Chan, Alex Niño, Nestor Redondo, and Gerry Talaoc were some of the Filipino komik artists who went on to work for DC, particularly in the 1970s and '80s.

See also

Comics portal

• List of Filipino komik artists
• List of Filipino superheroes
• List of Filipino supervillains

Notes

1. ^ Duncan, Randy and Smith, Matthew J. "Filipino Artists," The Power of Comics: History, Form & Culture (Continuum, 2009).

References

• The Philippine Comics Art Museum
• Celebrating 120 Years of Komiks From the Philippines I: The History of Komiks, Newsarama, October 19, 2006
• Celebrating 120 Years of Komiks From the Philippines II: The Future of Komiks, Newsarama, October 21, 2006
• Lent, John A. (2009) The First One Hundred Years of Philippine Komiks and Cartoons. Boboy Yonzon.
• Roxas, Cynthia and Joaquin Arevalo, Jr. A History of komiks of the Philippines and other countries, with contributions by Soledad S. Reyes, Karina Constantino-David, Efren Abueg; edited by Ramon R. Marcelino
• Macaraig, Mynardo. ‘KOMIKS’ INDUSTRY FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL, Planet Philippines, October 17, 2010

External links

• Original comic fable "The Monkey and the Tortoise" illustrated by Dr. José Rizal
• Comics Facts & Quotes from the Philippines and India
• "Kenkoy kick-started komiks" article