The Carver's House

I will admit that I haven't bought pamphlet comics in a very long time, though I try to keep myself updated on the general goings-on in the American comics industry, particularly what's been happening with the Big Two. I've been reading some of the new X-Men titles as well. Lately, I've been reading some blogposts about the sorry state of the comics industry, how it has failed to attract new buyers, how prices have become prohibitive, how the number of "good titles" have decreased, how film and television adaptations have not substantially improved comics sales, and how "big events" have begun to lose their novelty because of their regularity. Sadly, it seems that the same mistakes are being made. (I recently heard that special effects covers were being considered for a comeback. Did that push through?) One development that had been seen as a way to boost comics sales is the production of film adaptations, with the perceptio...

Well, not exactly my first play. I had written a full-length play in the late nineties and submitted it to a competition in Singapore. I'm glad it didn't win. I saw a copy of it some time back, and it was horrendous. Last April, I took a risk. Before my month-long trip to New Zealand, I spent a little over a week writing this one-act play, "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady," and sent it to the screening committee of The Virgin Labfest, a festival of untested plays organized by Tanghalang Pilipino and The Writer's Bloc. I was lucky enough to get a slot among the ten that were chosen to be staged this coming June. This play is a bit of a reunion of sorts. The director chosen for the play was Chris Martinez, whom you know as the talented man behind such films as "I Do Bidoo Bidoo" and "Here Comes the Bride." But he's also the guy who adapted my Zaturnnah graphic novel for the musical stage. Also, part of the cast is Skyzx Labastilla, ...

Despite the post's title, there are really no sure-fire ways to boost the sales of your comics. There are, however, principles that govern this, and today's comics creator would need to be familiar with these principles and work on them. To me, it's basically hinged on two factors: Your Work and your Platform. And from these two factors, we look into Quality and Scope. Quality of Work: It Has To Be Good When we look at quality, we look at the level of excellence it contains. In my previous blog posts, I've emphasized the importance of a quality story in terms of both writing and art, but there's more to that. When we look at quality, we're also looking at how writing and art help each other in achieving a satisfying reader experience. We also ask if the writing and art are "meant" to work together. Looking at Japanese manga as an example: while there is a particular style that's inherent in manga art, there are many permutations. A horror mang...

[Note: The recent Push Comics Forward initiative launched by BOOM! Comics reminded me of this piece I wrote on January 18, 2013. Though the text below was originally written to talk about the Philippine comics industry, I figured it's also relevant to the current conversation about comics industries in other parts of the globe. -- 01/30/2015) Where there's smoke, there's fire. Over the past decade or so, many comic conventions have been organized around the country, attracting thousands of comics fans and featuring prominent creators and artists. These events have been covered in tri-media and seem to be helping the industry elevate itself in the public consciousness. The question is, has the industry elevated itself high enough? There may be fire, but is the fire big enough for people to take notice? We could use the analogy of a burning house. If there's one burning house, the people surrounding that house would be alarmed, but that's as far as it would go. ...

One of the few projects I've been working on and off on is a graphic novel workshop. I even had an alpha test session last year with six volunteers. The workshop primarily focused on story development and story structure, topics that I dived into while putting together the story of the Zaturnnah sequel. While it was a successful session, there's a lot to work out to make it better-structured and more practical. There are a few comics writing references, but most of them just skim the surface. The other comics how-to books spend more pages on the art and visual storytelling. Understandably so, because comics is a visual medium after all. However, without a sound knowledge in story development, that part that comes before scriptwriting and visual interpretation, aspiring comics writers may find themselves building derivative stories, or another version of a comics story/novel/movie they've encountered before. Stories are like signatures. They are personal expressions of...

I was contacted by Whilce Portacio (one-time penciller of Uncanny X-Men and creator of Wetworks) weeks ago to contribute to a coffee table book to help raise funds for the victims of typhoon Ketsana. The book, entitled Renaissance: Ang Muling Pagsilang , features the artwork of dozens of Filipino and Fil-Am illustrators, comics book artists, cartoonists, and animators based here and abroad. This is the piece I contributed to the book. It was inspired by a friend's experience: I arrived at the star-studded February 21 book launch held at SM Megamall only in the afternoon, as I had forgotten that it was my dear mom's birthday. It was a very humbling experience being in the presence of so much talent, from veterans to newbies, mainstream to indie, including Michael "Bitoy" V. Many of you may not know that the Bubble Gang mainstay is a fantastic comics artist, and has actually done some comics work in the past before going full blast into novelty rap and television. I act...

At the KomikStrip convention held at the University of the Philippines - Los Baños last February 13, I was assigned the table beside Studio Studio, the group led by Ace Vitangcol which produces "Love Is In The Bag." You may have seen this Pinoy manga series in the bookstore and wondered if it was imported. It's about a girl who transforms into a bag when under extreme stress, particularly when she sees her crush. This is particularly advantageous for her, because she doesn't make a mess of herself and someone can just whisk her away inconspicuously. When I see my crush, on the other hand, my innards just explode and I melt into a brown bubbly morass. Good luck, right? I lent my 12-year old niece the four books in the series, and she went through them all in one sitting. There will be a fifth book, Ace says, and it will be the final book. Anyway, Ace asked me to draw one of the series' most beloved characters--the brooding basketball hunk Mark Spencer. (The dazzlin...

Some of you may have already seen this illustration over at the Zaturnnah Facebook page . I'm reposting it here, the before and after versions. (Click on image to enlarge) Incidentally, Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal earned seven nominations from the 2nd Philstage Awards for the Performing Arts. The Tanghalang Pilipino hit musical is vieing for the following awards: OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PRODUCTION OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL OUTSTANDING FEMALE LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL Eula Valdes OUTSTANDING MALE LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL Nar Cabico Joey Paras OUTSTANDING MUSICAL DIRECTION Vincent De Jesus OUTSTANDING MUSICAL COMPOSITION Vincent De Jesus Congratulations to Tanghalang Pilipino! See the complete list of noms at Gibbs Cadiz's blog .

Coloring *sigh*... Such a frustration...

From Yahoo! News: "...a Taiwanese-American strategy consultant who goes by the Web handle "jozjozjoz," thought it was funny that the camera had difficulties figuring out when her family had their eyes open. So she posted a photo of the blink warning on her blog under the title, "Racist Camera! No, I did not blink... I'm just Asian!" " And something simple I cooked up (click image to enlarge). Read the entire news article here.

Reprinted from an article written in 2007. Author anonymous. Story ideas are everywhere. You can 1) go over the news; 2) recall a special event in your life; 3) recall a special event in a friend's life; 4) go through history books, etc. Then you ask a lot of "what if" questions. Chances are, you'll find a story hook that'll interest you enough to expand into a full plot. However, not all story ideas will sell. Even the best-laid plans for Hollywood movies don't translate to record-breaking, not even modest, returns. So why invest all that time and energy on a story that's not going to fly? Of course, many aspiring creators have their dream projects. And there may be a chance that these projects can get them somewhere. But this post assumes that you're stuck and would really need a nice kick in the brain for a story idea that can get people interested. According to Amazon, the following magazines top their subscription sales list, in no particular orde...

There will be creative writers who may scoff at the idea of writing for a market, but it is the practice of the mainstream publishing industry to pour their resources on material that has a good chance of being picked up. While industry observers have noted that developing technologies (such as e-readers, electronic delivery, and the renewed interest in tablet computers) and business models (like print-on-demand) would eventually widen the opportunities for vanity and self-publishers, there still remains the question: Will a sizeable number of people buy this book? If you're a graphic novelist and you want your work to sell, it would be prudent to take your concept and see what kind of audience you're servicing. This is opposed to choosing a profitable market and tailoring a story for them. The latter case is the realm of commissioned work, or for those who are really into the business side of storytelling, but the former case can help you keep a tight focus on the boundaries w...

Ooooh-kayyy... here goes. First of all, I know that it's been over 18 months since I released the preview pages, and it's only proper for me to tell you that completion for the Zaturnnah sequel will still take a while. I'm breaking the promise I made to myself. No major comics work from me in 2009. The number of completed pages to date is 34. That's a small jump compared to the original 14 early last year. I'm working on the 35th page. Estimated page count for the entire sequel is a whopping 258--over 100 pages thicker than the first book--with eight chapters and an epilogue. Apart from a few text edits, nothing in the 14 preview pages will change. My mistake #1: Posting preview pages even though I wasn't 100% confident about the plot. At this point, after over a year of daily thinking and rethinking (and overthinking, headaches and nausea included), plus outlining, charting, and tracking the physical and emotional throughlines of the principal characters, the...

These two books from Komikero Publishing come highly recommended by yours truly. From Gerry's blog: ELMER is now available at the following outlets: Sputnik! , Cubao X, Cubao Comic Odyssey , Robinson’s Galleria Comic Quest , Megamall, Northmall and Festival Mall Planet X , Glorietta 4 Druid’s Keep , Gateway Center, Magallanes Solidaridad Book Shop , Padre Faura, Ermita Where Bold Stars Go To Die is now available at the following outlets: Sputnik! , Cubao X, Cubao Comic Odyssey , Robinson’s Galleria Comic Quest , Megamall, Northmall and Festival Mall Planet X , Glorietta 4 Druid’s Keep , Gateway Center, Magallanes

(click on the image to enlarge) Something of a different tone from yours truly. For the rest of the story, visit the Komikero Komiks Anthology blog .

Set to launch this coming KOMIKON 2009 (October 18, Megatrade Hall 1, SM Megamall), Underpass is a graphic anthology featuring dark fantasy stories from some of today's greatest Pinoy comics creators. Sim by Gerry Alanguilan Judas Kiss by David Hontiveros, Budjette Tan and Oliver Pulumbarit Katumbas by David Hontiveros and Ian Sta. Maria The Clinic by Budjette Tan and Ka-jo Baldisimo. The full-color anthology, which is Summit Media's first foray into Philippine-produced comics, will retail for P250. After the Komikon, Underpass will be available in major magazine shops.

Har har har!! Oh, you have got to read about it... and more "creepy sex scenes in comics." Courtesy of Cracked online.

Mango Comics' Boboy Yonzon makes this announcement in his Multiply blog . "THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED Years of Philippine Komiks and Cartoons coffee table book will be launched on Oct. 16, 2009 at 5PM at the Powerbooks, Megamall. Written by Dr. John A. Lent of Temple University and published by Yonzon Associates." This is a book that's long overdue, and it's such a thrill to know it's finally coming out. I'm soooo flattered, as well, that Zsazsa Zaturnnah herself will grace the cover jacket. It's, like... wowowowww!! For a preview of the inside pages, visit Boboy Yonzon's Multiply blog .

You may have seen the "before" drawing in a previous post. Since Jonas had already posted the "after" version in his website , I thought it best to put the two side-by-side. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

This eight-page piece was supposed to be part of a printed anthology, but that anthology never saw the light. So I'm presenting the story here. I hope you like it. As is customary with these things, copyright belongs to me. And you are certainly welcome to repost one or two pages in your own parcels of web real estate, with a link to this post. If you repost all eight pages, however, you are open to people calling you strange names. (click on each image to enlarge; then click on the browser "Back" button to go back to this post.)